Yuu Yuu Hakusho: The Ansatsusha Saga
by Last of the Star Makers
Summary: Yuu Yuu Hakusho: The Assassin Saga. Our four favorite guys are sent on a mission which snowballs into something larger than any of them could have imagined. Well...except Kurama of course. He always sees everything coming.
1. Amureo Arc:: Enter the Ansatsusha

A/N: Okay, a bit of introduction before you start. The guys (Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei) have been called into Koenma's office for a mission. As for when this takes place within the series **-spoilers warning for those who have not at least watched all the way through the Chapter Black Saga-** they have just defeated Shinobu Sensui but they did it without Yusuke dying, meaning that his Mazuko blood hasn't been revealed and Kurama and Hiei are still B class. Itsuki still took Sensui away into that other dimension he created and Koenma has not been outlawed by his father and he did not have to use the Mafukin spell within his pacifier. **-spoiler end-**

I have my own characters in here and while I claim them always and forever, I don't own nor do I claim to own Yuu Yuu Hakusho.

Any dialogue that looks like this: _"What am I doing?" _is someone thinking.

I think that's pretty much it! Welcome to Yuu Yuu Hakusho: The Ansatsusha Saga. Enjoy!

* * *

"Hey Koenma! What's up?" Yusuke busted open the door with Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei following in behind.

Yusuke plopped down into one of the chairs in front of the toddler's desk. Kuwabara rested his elbows on the back of the chair with Kurama standing next to him. Hiei leaned against the wall near the door.

Koenma pushed a button and the huge screen they were all familiar with came down from the ceiling.

A woman appeared on the screen, her face and profile like mug shots as well as a full body picture from the front and the side. Her black hair was about mid-back in length with silver highlights scattered in it. She had green eyes which stared forward emotionlessly within the photos.

"What's this all about?" Kuwabara piped up gallantly. "Do we need to go and save her?" He struck a manly pose.

"I'm afraid not," Koenma said darkly, "I'm sending you on a retrieval mission. Bring her back to me."

Kurama saw that Koenma looked harried, as if something more was on his mind than just the retrieval of the young woman. Circles under his eyes, the pieces of hair sticking out in all directions under his hat, these things that should not have been present on a toddler were obvious to Kurama. Kurama was certain something else stewed within the Prince's mind but he had no speculations as to what.

"Hn. Ridiculous use of a Spirit Detective." Hiei absently put one hand in a pocket.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Yusuke agreed.

Koenma nodded, "I certainly hope not. Though I will warn you: we've been searching for her for quite a long time. For her to just suddenly reappear…"

"Means that she wants to be found." Kurama finished.

There was another nod of Koenma's head.

"You act like you know her, Koenma. Why was she in hiding?" Kuwabara asked.

There was a momentary pause in the conversation as everyone stared at Kuwabara.

"What?" He shrunk back a little under their stares.

"You inferred that Koenma knew this woman without him actually coming out and saying it." Kurama explained.

"Wha?"

"You said something smart, dummy. Don't ruin it by being stupid again." Yusuke gave him a good sock in the arm.

"Too late." Hiei crossed his arms.

"Shut up, hamster legs!"

"Half-wit."

"Pint-size!"

"Idiot."

"Shrimp!"

"I'd rather be a short warrior than a tall fool."

"How I know her isn't important," Koenma interrupted loudly in order to regain their attention. "If you really must know, she stole several items from the Vault. Among other things."

Yusuke frowned, "Wait. Just recently? Why weren't we told about this? Besides, that doesn't make her very original. Hiei and Kurama have already done that."

"It was a long time ago," Koenma dismissed it with a hand, "You were only a little boy, if you had even been thought of yet. And those items have been returned."

"Then it seems Hiei and I are the unoriginal ones." Kurama spoke up.

"Hn."

"I think I have heard about her." Kurama looked thoughtfully at the screen before going on, "Just bits and pieces of things. Many Makai inhabitants know of her."

"We in the Reikai know of her all too well." Koenma sighed unhappily, "I'm not really sure what she plans on doing now that she's back but I'd like to talk with her about those 'plans' if she has any."

"So she could just be passing through?" Kurama asked.

"It's possible. Not probable. But possible."

"Aren't there supposed to be some sort of guardian people…uh…guarding the Vault?" Kuwabara's thought came a little late. He knew something about all of this stealing stuff was bothering him and he eventually realized why.

"There were. Even when we raided it. They aren't very good at their jobs." Hiei pointed out.

Koenma glared at the fire youkai but only handed Kurama a location for where they could find their target.

...

She was leaning against a lone tree stump in the middle of a clearing deep within a forest. Her back was to them, her fingers laced together behind her head as she looked up at the sky.

Suddenly the branch Yusuke perched on cracked. Her head turned slightly toward the noise, but she didn't move other than that.

"Why do you humans have to be so loud?" Hiei hissed.

The woman chuckled, "Amusing. If you don't come out by the time I count to ten, I'm going to start throwing sharp objects." She picked up a nasty looking rock by her foot and stood facing them, casually tossing the rock into the air and catching it. "One...two... eight-"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming down," Yusuke tried, but ended up falling out of the branches.

She threw the rock aside, "Good. I'm not really a decent shot anyway."

With extreme dignity, Kuwabara jumped as gracefully as he could from his tree, landing steadily and marching towards her.

"We are here to rescue you from this forest!" He put his hands on his hips and stuck out his chest as far as he could.

"Thanks. The leaves were starting to scare me. All that rustling. I think they're up to something." She could hear three human heartbeats, as well as two other heartbeats, though the second pair did not beat in the human sense of the word. _"Youkai. Associated with humans? …But how does that boy have two heartbeats? A human heartbeat...but also a fainter youkai one...oh." _She realized just who this other 'human' was when Kurama stepped into the clearing, red hair lifting a bit in the breeze that blew by.

When Kuwabara tried to take another step forward, he found that he couldn't move. He tried to yell a warning out to the others, but he couldn't speak either.

She took a couple of stumbling steps back as a rose whip snapped at her face, contacting the air several times before returning to Kurama's side. And the only reason he missed was because she had a clear view of his attack seeing as how he stood directly in front of her only a few meters away.

Kurama crouched, immediately battle-ready, his rose whip lying deceptively harmless at his feet. He had sensed Kuwabara's panic, knowing that somehow the female was involved.

Hiei launched himself from the tree, katana drawn. Kurama ran forward with him, dropping back as his speedier companion circled behind her, the red-haired youkai keeping to her front.

Yusuke had well-recovered from his fall by this time and he stood to her right, Kurama having shifted a little to her left to complete the triangle they now had her trapped in.

"Oh. I get it." She said with realization in her voice, "Koenma's little squad. I wondered what two youkai were doing with two humans."

"So you know why we're here." Kurama said, standing up a little though his guard never dropped.

"Well of course. Now that I know who you are."

"Yeah the little toddler wants to talk to you." Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets.

"He would. That's all he's good for."

"So, you comin' with us?"

"That easily? I'm afraid not." She shook her head. "You have to prove to me that it'll be worth going with you."

"He didn't exactly tell us why he wanted to talk to you…"

"You don't get my meaning." She disappeared, reappearing behind Yusuke with her arm around his neck and a finger of her other hand pointed like a gun at Yusuke's temple.

Yusuke grabbed for her arm, clutching it in his hands in an attempt to pry her off.

She released him voluntarily and gave him a shove forward away from her.

"Ah. A battle then?" Kurama smiled a little.

"A skirmish more like." She allowed.

_"Hello! Can't anybody see that I'm stuck over here?" _Kuwabara, unable to speak, shouted silently at the now fighting group of people, wishing he could wave his arms around to get their attention.

_"Perhaps we just don't care." _Kuwabara somehow heard Hiei's voice say in his head.

_"Wow that was a pretty good imitation of his voice." _Kuwabara was surprised that his mind could come up with that, _"And that's exactly something shorty would say too."_

"Your move." She told the other three.

None of them even so much as shifted their feet, her eyes quickly bouncing between each of them, waiting for the first strike.

They all three attacked as one, Kurama and Hiei flanking her, her front side left open.

Yusuke brought up his arm and pointed it at her. "Spirit Gun!"

The blast shot at her, heading straight for the woman's face.

Seeming astonished, she dodged to the left.

Kurama and Hiei would have both attacked with deadly precision, but skidded to a split-second halt as they watched her trip over the rock she had thrown aside earlier.

"Bwahahahaha!" Yusuke laughed, clutching at his stomach and pointing at her. She hadn't fallen, regaining her balance instead, but Yusuke still found it unbelievably hilarious.

Kurama and Hiei lost sight of her and then Yusuke went hurtling past their faces, hitting the grass and bouncing twice before lying still.

The pair looked back, seeing her standing, waiting for them to attack.

Obliging, Kurama went forward while Hiei slunk to her left.

Seeing Hiei's movement, she dodged right, as if she hadn't seen Kurama coming at her.

She hadn't.

His rose whip lashed out instinctively and wrapped around the woman's wrists, quickly encircling her body to completely paralyze her. Leaving her widened eyes and nose free, the snake-like whip wrapped her down to her ankles but it never drew blood.

Kurama's face wavered for a second in a frown, knowing that the thorns should have pierced her skin on contact, though not doing any awful damage.

Still coming from her left, Hiei now dashed forward with unnatural speed, bringing his sword up from his side to give a good slash across the back of her legs at the knees; the whip was parted in this place, Kurama knowing his colleague well.

Keeping a hold of his whip, Kurama checked his spirit energy within it, finding nothing wrong. He watched Hiei run towards her, and his eyebrows raised in surprise when she disappeared.

Hiei's weapon whistled silently through the air just as Kuwabara found his voice again.

"NOOO!" _"We aren't supposed to hurt her! Aw dang it. I can't talk again."_

Hiei twisted around, instantly recovering from his miss, his eyes expertly searching the clearing for a trace of her. He found that she stood behind Kurama, just finishing tying off the rose whip which now bound its owner from head to foot. She was frozen in the middle of her knot, her eyes fixed on Kuwabara.

"You should not be able to speak."

Kurama wasn't really sure what had just happened and the words she mumbled to herself while tying him up were puzzling.

"Your weapons can't harm me here." It was barely audible.

Well that was helpful to know.

Kuwabara looked relieved that she was okay. _"What was that lousy shrimp thinking? He could have seriously injured her!"_

Yusuke stood up from where he had flopped to earlier, wiping a fist across his lower lip to rid it of the blood. She had delivered a kick to his face in retaliation for him laughing at her and he'd been knocked loopy for much less than a minute. He couldn't believe what state the others were in. He hadn't been out that long, had he? Kurama was in his own rose whip. Weird!

Yusuke ran forward at her, naturally gathering his spirit energy into his fists. His feet became cemented to the ground after only a few steps and he found that he could not move.

She shook her head as if trying to clear her thoughts and Hiei moved to strike again. She pulled Kurama in front of her absently at the last second, stepping to the side.

Hiei jumped into the air, katana raised to slice her through.

Kurama's eyes locked with Hiei's and Hiei, the sword centimeters from Kurama's head, flicked his wrist so that the point of the katana harmlessly pierced the grass.

Kurama fell sideways onto the ground a second later, loosing his balance when the woman pulled him over.

Hiei straightened to see her walking in a circle around Kuwabara.

"Misaki Ansatsusha. I didn't expect to see you so soon. And especially not on my property." A dry voice rang clearly from nearby in the trees.

_"I thought this place looked familiar!" _Yusuke exclaimed silently.

The woman lost her concentration on Kuwabara as she recognized the voice, the owner of which was none other than Genkai.

"So soon? Really? You seem to have aged just a trifle since the last time we saw one another, old woman." Misaki jerked her head towards the guys, "Koenma didn't trust them enough to get me?"

"How should I know?" Genkai grunted.

"He sent you, didn't he?"

"Hey! We're supposed to be rescuing her, not trying to kill her!" Kuwabara finally shouted at Hiei.

"How does he keep doing that?" Misaki faced him again.

"Foolish woman. The same way I do this," Hiei ran forward intending to slash at her. If he had gotten two feet closer he would have been able to run her through. As it were, Hiei was stuck to the ground, his feet not responding to his demands.

Genkai snorted, seeing Hiei stopped.

"You can't move either, my dear Genkai."

Of course she couldn't move either. She hadn't been able to move since she stepped into the stupid clearing.

"Oh, are we speechless now too?" She smiled a knowing grin.

"No more than you are dead," was the strained response.

Misaki frowned. _"You shouldn't be able to speak…"_

"Which can be easily arranged," Hiei growled with some effort.

"I seriously have no idea how you people keep doing that," she sighed.

Seeing as how all of her opponents were unable to combat her at the moment, Misaki was allowed a moment to collect her thoughts and take a good look at the beings around her. _"This is what the Spirit Detectives consist of now, hm? Interesting."_

"You've lost your touch Misaki." Genkai appeared at Misaki's shoulder, swinging her body around to land a solid kick.

Misaki blocked the assault with a quick upturn of her forearm, not even flinching when the foot contacted solidly with it. She grabbed Genkai's ankle with the other hand and swung the sensei away.

"How did you find me out here?" She grinned as Genkai easily repelled on a tree trunk.

Genkai launched forward, hands clasped behind her back, "You people make entirely too much noise." Genkai landed a foot into Misaki's stomach, "I could hear the fighting all the way at the house." These words were followed by a quick upward kick into Misaki's chin.

"Ah. I suppose we were being a bit loud. I apologize." Misaki's words sounded as casual as Genkai's, as if the two were merely chatting over a cup of tea. She threw her head back, Genkai's foot sweeping just past her chin before she grabbed the ankle a second time and tossed the old sensei away again.

Genkai landed confidently on the ground and bent her knees, only a little surprised when she found she couldn't jump.

Seeing that the grumpy old lady was unable to move, Misaki scrutinized those others who were stopped.

"Hm. Yusuke Urameshi, the smart-mouthed punk; Kazuma Kuwabara, honorable idiot; the vessel of Yoko Kurama, and Hiei Jaganshi, easily identifiable through the masterful speed and swordsmanship. Though I wonder what two youkai, even ones such as yourselves, are doing allied with the Reikai."

Hiei's fierce look was deadly. What exactly did she mean by 'even ones such as yourselves?' He did not think it was a compliment by any stretch of the imagination. His hands tightened slightly around the hilt of his katana.

"Yes. I know who you are. The real question is what do I do with you now?" Misaki tapped her chin with a finger, "Decisions, decisions."

"How about you let us go and we'll make your death quick." Hiei's deathly calm voice drifted from where he stood.

"You really shouldn't be able to do that." Misaki seemed puzzled.

"Have you told them who you are yet Misaki? Or have you all just met?" Genkai changed the subject.

"You mean to tell me they don't know?" Misaki said with dramatic feigned surprise, "Are you implying that I've been forgotten? A mere object of lore hidden behind years of absence? Depressing. It means I have been gone much too long." Misaki flipped some of her dark hair behind one shoulder and crossed her arms, giving Genkai a dry look.

"Oh my dear Misaki, I don't believe you've been forgotten. You seem to forget the long life-span of most youkai." Genkai glanced at the others, "Boys, meet Misaki Ansatsusha. One of the best Spirit Detectives Koenma ever had."

_"That was the one thing I wouldn't want them to know. And she knew that."_ Inwardly she cursed the sensei but merely said aloud: "And ne'er a one has surpassed me yet." She bowed mockingly.

_"Koenma didn't tell us she used to be a Spirit Detective!" _Yusuke's eyebrows rose.

Kurama wondered when exactly this 'Misaki Ansatsusha' was a Spirit Detective. As far as he knew, there had only been Yusuke, Shinobu Sensei and the first Spirit Detective: a girl named Kuroko Senata. This wasn't Kuroko, was it? Perhaps under a different name? Surely not. Kuroko would not have stolen artifacts from the Vault.

"So, now that you know who I am...was," her tone sounded miffed, "What can I do for you?"

"As I said before, release us and we will make it quick."

She looked over the group again and lightly brushed their minds, skimming the briefing Koenma had given them. _"So he wants me back? I guess he doesn't realize… I've been out of the game for so long and if the barrier is barely holding…"_

Hiei's eyes narrowed as he felt her, through the Jagan, scan his mind. He was about to shove her out when the Jagan stopped him.

_"What?" _He asked it, irritated.

The Jagan pointed out that she only wanted to know what had gone on in the briefing Koenma gave them before they left, nothing important.

Hiei inwardly rolled his eyes. He felt the Jagan examining the telepathic trail she left behind with some excitement. Hiei shook his head as some of that thrill was passed onto him. It had been a long time since they had come across a decent telepath.

_"Clumsy." _Hiei pointed out. It was obvious that she was getting into his head. And she didn't even detect that he knew what she was doing.

He indulged the Jagan a bit reluctantly and let her gather what she wanted.

Finally Misaki shrugged and waved a hand. The four stuck in place were released from what held them and Hiei stumbled forward a little, but quickly regained his balance.

She turned to Kurama next to her but stopped, an astounded expression on her face.

Kurama had transformed his whip back into a rose and tucked it safely away within his hair, watching the happenings with his ever-so-slightly amused appearance.

"I'm impressed, vessel." Her voice held new respect. "Most would not know what to do with such a predicament as you had."

He nodded graciously, never saying a word.

"You should keep your eyes on your enemies." Behind her in one fluid motion, Hiei readied his sword and ran for her, his movement to quick for the human eye. He was close enough to hear her sigh long-sufferingly and then she disappeared. Once again, the blade was aimed for Kurama. Once again, Hiei turned the blow to the side.

_"Life lesson from Hiei Jaganshi? I'm surprised." _"You are a slow one aren't you?" She sneered aloud, knowing she would enrage him.

She did.

In an unseen anger reflected only in the heat of his eyes, he swept the sword up, turned around to face her, and brought the katana down on her head.

She reached up and caught it between the palms of her hands, quickly manipulating the direction so that the blade lay across the front of Hiei's neck, his hands still on the hilt and the sword slantwise over his body. They were standing close together, her cheek near his. Their heads did not move, but they glared at each other out of the corner of their eyes, neither one blinking.

It was Kurama's turn to find equal respect for this woman. Yes, she had delivered a solid blow to Yusuke and yes, she tossed Genkai about like the veteran warrior was only a small child; not to mention the fact that she somehow wrapped him up in his own rose whip…but matching Hiei in speed was an entirely different matter.

"Care to continue?" Misaki whispered so that only Hiei could hear, pressing the katana so that it made an indentation in his neck.

A fine line of blood formed underneath the cloth Hiei wore about his neck, giving the pure white linen a lovely stripe of crimson. He could feel a drip sliding down his collarbone but she did not pierce his skin deeply. She was right at his eye level, her cold green eyes staring into his fiery red ones.

Hiei could see that her arm muscles were straining as the both of them fought for power over the sword, but she had the upper hand, having taken him by surprise. Neither of them moved, the air between them crackling fiercely.

The tension was so great had Hiei's katana fallen, it could have sliced right through it. Everyone watched, stock-still, as the two faced off.

"Hm. Okay. You all seem an interesting enough bunch with a decent amount of potential. I think this little bit of fun will make up for whatever Koenma has to say to me. Does that sound fine to you, Yusuke?" Misaki said pleasantly to the rest of them, still struggling with Hiei.

"Um..." Yusuke didn't know what to say.

"Oh don't worry," she dropped her hands and took a step away, "I won't kill him. Not yet anyway."

Hiei had been resisting her hands with so much effort that for the second time in less than five minutes, he was off balance.

"Are you alright?" Kuwabara rushed forward to see if Misaki was okay. He grabbed for her hands, but she jerked away.

"Look, is Botan going to transport us to Koenma's or are we going to have to walk somewhere for that?" Misaki said, very put out.

Hiei noticed one of Kuwabara's fingers had a bit of blood on it. _"Hn. So she does bleed."_

Misaki heard his thought and her look grew even more disgruntled. When she had grabbed for the katana, her left palm was under the sharp blade and it sliced off a good chunk of her skin before she could adjust her angle. She made a fist to conceal the wound and stop the blood flow.

_"Genkai's right. I have lost my 'touch.' I wouldn't have been hurt if the barrier was working properly."_

"I'm afraid we're going to have to walk." Kurama told her.

_"Yes, I do bleed."_ She projected the thought at Hiei, _"But then, so do you." _Her eyes flickered to the white cloth around his neck and the bloodstained strip.

"Give me a moment and I will join you."

Hiei watched her closely as she walked to the edge of the clearing, his legs ready to give chase should she try to escape.

Misaki searched the ground carefully, bending down when she found what she was looking for.

_"I guess I won't need this any more." _The odd device she picked up was easily crushed in her fist, its dust-like remains flying out of her hand as she poured them onto the ground.

Finished with her task, she came back to the others and fell in step behind them as Yusuke waved good-bye to Genkai.

She followed the group silently, Hiei staying at the back to keep an eye on her.

* * *

-lotsm


	2. Amureo Arc:: The Mission

A/N: I changed the way Koenma's office looks in my story. In the anime, there are two big doors in the south-or bottom wall-you enter into his office by, with two pillars on either side as you stand in the entrance and then his desk is about twenty feet away from the doors on the north wall and the room is huge, but mostly empty. In my story, his office is smaller, with a normal door on the east wall leading out into a long hall, his desk still on the north wall, another door in the north wall on the other side of his desk farthest from the normal door, other doors are in the west wall and then a couch and some recliners are scattered about the room. I know nobody cares about this stuff but me, but it helps me picture it in my head. Enjoy.

Overview of Chapter One (From now on it will be shortened to O/C1 or whatever the number of the previous chapter happened to be): The guys are sent by Koenma to bring Misaki Ansatsusha back to him. After a small engagement, she agrees to come back to the Spirit Detective Agency with them. They walk all the way back to his office and enter…

* * *

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times! I never-oh!" Koenma noticed the guys standing in front of the desk. "How long have you been there?" Koenma remembered the mission he had sent them on and his eyes widened. The ogre beside him got pushed out of the way as Koenma jumped out of his chair and quickly tottered around his desk, "Where's Misaki?" he asked anxiously.

"Toddie! It's so good to see you!" She stepped out from the back of the group, holding out her arms as if to hug the toddler though she simply squatted down and pinched his cheek. "The last time I saw you, you were this big!" She held out a hand to indicate his height. "Oh…wait..." She compared her hand to his current height. "You still are this big...never mind." She patted his cheek, smiling.

Koenma batted her hand away, annoyed, "And you still call me that. You know I hate that name."

"Toddie?" Yusuke began laughing as he looked at Kuwabara, "Why didn't I ever think of that?"

"Because I would have hurt you if you did," Koenma said threateningly as the laughter died down. Yusuke was wiping tears from his eyes.

"Aw, you're so cute," Misaki patted his hat.

Koenma swatted at her hand again.

Misaki stood back up and crossed her arms, "Why'dya want me here Toddie? You know I quit this Spirit Detective business." She plopped down into one of the recliners, her legs hanging over one of the arms.

"Well I certainly wanted you here for old time's sake," he rolled his eyes.

"Aw, did you miss me toddie?"

Koenma ground his teeth.

"Why did you need us to bring her back Koenma?" Kurama asked.

"Woah woah woah, hold up! You can quit the Spirit Detective stuff? No one ever told me that! I was under the impression that I was stuck here for life!" Yusuke said.

"Would you actually quit at this point Yusuke?" Kurama wanted to know.

"Well of course I wouldn't-"

"That's right he wouldn't! There are too many people in the world that need protecting!" Kuwabara announced.

"She didn't quit, she retired," Koenma said, trying to regain his dignity.

"That's what he put down in the books. I actually quit," Misaki told the others.

"Yusuke, why does it matter?" Kurama wanted to know, "I don't really see you as the type to quit."

"Buwahahaha!" Kuwabara laughed.

"Well, at least quit being a Spirit Detective." Kurama corrected himself.

"KOENMA!" Botan burst through the door, "I JUST HEARD THAT…" she saw Misaki's head as the dark haired woman looked up over her knees to see who came in the door.

"Misaki has returned." Koenma finished, "I know."

"We just brought her in," Yusuke spoke up.

"Yeah well..." Kuwabara noticed that Yukina came in the door, "There was totally like this huge fight and everyone got knocked out 'cept for me and then I—"

Yukina didn't even notice him, "Misaki? Misaki!" She ran and jumped over the side of the chair, tackling Misaki. The recliner fell sideways, Misaki's head making a gross crack as it hit the hard floor.

_"Woah…I have never seen Yukina do anything like that…ever." _Yusuke thought to himself. _"Waitasecond…did she seriously just tackle Misaki to the ground? We barely got her to agree to come with us and then Yukina comes in and just straight up tackles her!"_ He was gaping at the still turned over chair.

Misaki heard his inward dialogue and grinned in spite of herself, rubbing her sore head as Yukina apologized several times.

_"I'm just lucky I didn't bust my head open." _Misaki snorted slightly and examined her hand for any blood. She stood up carefully, head still reeling madly, raising the recliner back into place with one hand.

Hiei blinked a couple of times. She was taller than before, carrying Yukina on her back.

The Koorime was shooting questions quietly into Misaki's ear, "Are you staying? Will you be here for a while?"

Only Botan and Koenma didn't seem surprised at Yukina's sudden personality transformation into that of a little child.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if I hung around for a few days," She shrugged one shoulder, "I presume you had my room opened back up for my return." The last part was aimed at Koenma.

"Misaki I..." Koenma's voice drifted off and he shifted his feet.

Something in his voice made her stop. Misaki turned around to look at him, one hand on the doorknob and the other under Yukina, supporting the girl who might have choked Misaki without the support, the small girl's arms were so tightly wrapped around Misaki's neck.

He shook his head, "Just come back after you've settled in, okay?"

She didn't like the emotion that was emanating from his thoughts and she didn't think she'd like what she found if she read his mind. She nodded solemnly and headed out the door.

Misaki started down the hall to her room, Yukina's voice quietly echoing along the way. She was playing with Misaki's hair now, separating the silver strands from the black ones. This was rather relaxing for Misaki, though she never would have admitted it.

Yukina was softly telling Misaki all about everything that had since they had seen each other last, which was quite a lot.

Misaki didn't speak too often, realizing how much she missed the girl's voice.

Misaki reached the door to her room, putting Yukina down.

"It doesn't have a doorknob." Yukina's head cocked to the side with curiosity.

"My spirit energy's pattern is what opens it. It's almost as good as using a fingerprint." Misaki was not one to humor children, but then again the koorime were exceptions to the rule. And Yukina wasn't technically a child any more on top of that.

"If someone's pattern is close enough to yours, it'll open to their touch…may I try?" The maiden asked.

As Misaki nodded, Yukina put her hand on it, not noticing Misaki's finger brush the door.

Yukina smiled when the door silently slid into the wall, walking beyond it inside the room.

Misaki flicked the lights on. The room was pretty much how she left it. Messy. She was never in the room too often anyway but the times that she did happen to use it resulted in a large pile of different things she just threw around. Things she had left behind, a small number of clothes, some shiny stuff, a couple of weapons she never used and a few notebooks, littered the floor here and there. A canvas stood in a corner on an easel, a white sheet covering it and paints and brushes scattered below in disarray.

Yukina picked up the darkest thing in the room. It was complicated to look at. A twig is what it could be best compared to, but it had no beginning and no end. It twisted and turned and one could spend hours trying to uncover its secrets. She sat down cross legged, holding it up to her face.

...

Misaki smiled at her and started digging through stuff, trying to organize things a little. She piled things on the bed, clearing the floor.

"Argh. Yukina, have you seen a—" Misaki turned around to see the girl lying on the floor asleep, the twig still in hand. Misaki looked up as her door slid open of its own accord.

"Misaki?" Kurama stepped in, "Koenma says he wants to see you now."

She hit her forehead with the heel of her hand, "Oh I totally forgot!" She stepped over Yukina to leave and then stopped. She turned back and glanced at Yukina, hesitating.

"I'll take care of her. Koenma sounded like it was urgent that you speak to him," Kurama knelt down by the girl.

"Thanks," Misaki flashed him a smile in his direction and ran out the door.

...

"There you are. I was worried that you had run off on me again."

Misaki closed Koenma's office door behind her, "Sorry. I really meant to come. It just slipped my mind."

He set some papers down that he had been holding, placing his elbows down on the desk and interlacing his fingers. Misaki sat down, leaning back comfortably in the chair she had been knocked over in earlier.

"There's going to be a major break-in from the Ningenkai tomorrow."

Misaki rubbed a temple, "Isn't it usually the other way around? And what is with you? You're really tense. It can't be that bad, can it?"

He ignored her questions, "Do you know about the Waters of Amureo?"

She looked at him strangely but nodded, "It's a sort of sacred water source between the Makai and the Ningenkai. They've modeled it after a human pool and youkai go there to swim, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"That's where they're going to make a break."

"WHAT?" Misaki leaned forward, absolute bewilderment obvious on her face.

Koenma didn't seem fazed by her reaction.

"But only a water youkai of incredible power, who was already in the Ningenkai, could achieve something of that magnitude and only..." she stopped. "No. No way."

"Yup."

"Not him."

"I'm afraid so," Koenma said darkly.

They were both silent for a moment.

"You know I made a bet with myself to see how long I could stay away from him."

"You're the only one I know of who can stop it."

"So if I can find you somebody who could do it in my place, you'd let me off? Leave me alone? Maybe I could win my bet that way." She considered it.

Koenma leaned back into his chair, "If you could find someone, sure. Can you think of anyone better suited for the job than you?"

Misaki sat back too, crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She blew a piece of hair out of her face, "Yes. Several."

"Anyone that's still alive who can interfere?"

Misaki hesitated, "Well...no."

"Thought so," Koenma's face grew concerned, "If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. I can always try something else."

"And what else is there to try? You know you waited a little late for this. I mean what if I hadn't show up when I did? This is happening tomorrow and you..." she shook her head, "What were you planning on doing?"

Koenma didn't say anything, his face turning a little pink as he shifted his eyes around the room.

"That's what I thought. You didn't have a plan. You got lucky," Misaki sighed, "Thanks for the concern but I knew we were going to meet again sooner of later." She put a hand over her eyes, resting her head back in the recliner, "I had just hoped it would be later and not sooner." Misaki got lost in her thoughts. _"I could barely hold my own against the current Spirit Detectives. And without that barrier I wouldn't have been able to even come close. What am I supposed to do against __him__?"_

"I heard you almost killed Hiei when the guys went to get you."

Misaki didn't look up, "Yeah. He left himself wide open just long enough." she said absently, "If he isn't careful I might end up killing him some time." _"If I don't end up getting killed first. Why do I always open my big mouth?" _

"Oh? I heard some of the ogres betting on it."

"Really. And just what where they betting about?" She looked at Koenma from between her fingers.

"Something about you not being able to resist killing him within the week."

Misaki's eyes narrowed, "And how many of them are betting against me?"

Koenma scratched his head, "All of them except one as far as I know."

"Oh really?" She asked dangerously, "Look, I don't want to know. But you can tell them that I plan on not killing Hiei. Heck, I won't kill any of them. So they can go ahead and give it up. I may lose a bet against myself by helping you out but I certainly won't…" She trailed off, her eyes widening.

Koenma couldn't help his smug smile.

The guys came in. Misaki stood, a disgusted look on her face. She brushed past them silently.

"What's her problem?" Yusuke asked.

"Well, I tricked her into not killing you," Koenma steepled his fingers.

"She was going to kill us?" Kuwabara asked disbelievingly.

"If I hadn't made her say she wouldn't, she very well could have. This is one of the reasons why I needed you to bring her to me. I need her on our side this time and Misaki isn't known for her mercy, or for suffering fools. But she has a weak spot for bets and never goes back on her word…" he sighed, "But she's also known for her vengeance."

'One of the reasons', 'I need her on our side this time', these statements stuck out in Kurama's mind and questions raced through his head.

"You expect her to retaliate since you tricked her." Was all he said out loud.

"Oh most definitely. I'll be watching my back for a while," he shivered a little, "Anyway. I have a new assignment for you. There's going to be a break in from the Ningenkai tomorrow some time."

Kurama looked thoughtful, "Someone from the Ningenkai wants into the Makai?"

"Yes," Koenma nodded, "A powerful youkai was banished to the Ningenkai by Misaki a while back. He vowed he'd return. He was placed into a human body. Much like Yoko's situation," Koenma nodded to Kurama, "A few key differences like he was forced there but that isn't the point. The point is, he's figured out a way to come back and I'm sending you all to help Misaki contain him. She's agreed to tell you about her past in exchange for your help."

"Toddie, what in the world are you talking about? Where did that come from? Who cares about my past?"

The boys turned back to see Misaki leaning casually against the wall behind them.

"All they need to know is that I am the best at what I do and they had better stay out of my way." _"Oh worlds. I really need to keep my mouth shut. I can't back that up right now."_

"Come on, don't you want to tell them about your glory days?"

Misaki snorted, "My glory days were over the day I became a Spirit Detective. And like I said, why would they care?"

Kurama kept silent. He was most curious, wondering if she and Yoko had ever met before.

Yusuke snickered, "How did he trick you into that job?"

"He didn't trick me," Misaki said loftily, "He asked for my help. He knew how well-known I was."

"Notorious," Koenma corrected.

Misaki shot him a look, "Besides. He needed me. He would have gotten a lot of spankings if I hadn't."

Kuwabara and Yusuke laughed at the image of Koenma over his father's knee getting the punishment slapped out of his butt. Koenma blushed royally.

"Of course, you weren't entirely loyal." Koenma said indignantly through his blush.

"Why should I have been? I'm what most would call a mercenary. My skills are for sale, not my loyalty."

"You still didn't have to steal all of the vault items," Koenma said darkly, remembering the incident.

Misaki laughed hard, doubling over, "You wanted me to prove I was the best," she protested between laughs, "So I did. You got in so much trouble. Of course I waited until after your father found out to return them which meant you had to pay the piper for that one. And the look on your face when I came in and dumped them all on your desk and walked out," she wiped a tear from her eye from the laughter, "The look on your face was priceless. Well worth all of the stupid stuff you made me do after that."

"So why did you quit if you were the best?" Kuwabara asked.

Something passed between Koenma and Misaki that the two humans didn't catch.

"I got bored." she shrugged.

"How can you get bored doing this job?" Yusuke wanted to know.

"Too easy." _"You wouldn't believe how easy even if I told you. Of course, you wouldn't believe the reason why it was easy either."_

"Too easy? Koenma, where have you been hiding the easy missions?" Yusuke demanded.

She looked everyone over. "Alright, I think this little segment of 'Getting to know Misaki' is up, my little grasshoppers. I'm out," she stepped for the door.

Koenma looked shocked.

"Oh come on, you couldn't have seriously believed that I didn't know what you were doing," she scrutinized his face, "Wow. You really thought I didn't catch it. It's been much too long Koenma," she waggled a finger at him, "You're just not as sneaky as you used to think you were." she left.

"Hahaha! She totally got you Koenma!" Yusuke cracked up, pointing a finger at the tiny prince.

Koenma shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Yes, well. Um. Yes. Okay. That's all I have for you. See you tomorrow." He picked up some paperwork on his desk as an ogre ushered them out of the door.

* * *

-lostm


	3. Amureo Arc:: Enter Firelady

A/N: Yeah…so some of the stuff in here is made up but hey, I get to do what I want, right? Of course right.

* * *

O/C2: Misaki came back with the guys to Koenma's office. He gives them all a new assignment: they have to prevent a break in from the Nigenkai into the Makai by a powerful youkai… (Haha, that all rhymed…ehhe…ahem…sorry…)

Hiei stood by the window, facing Kurama who sat on his bed. Kurama had been reading a book when he felt the fire youkai drawing near, so he had opened the window and sat back down at his desk while Hiei quickly appeared through it. Hiei was in the middle of informing Kurama of the problem.

"I'm telling you Kurama, I keep hearing her thoughts. She's in no condition to face whoever we're going up against."

"Strange. Usually you aren't hearing another's thoughts as often as this."

Hiei shifted his feet, his eyes looking out the open window. "It…it's the Jagan." He scowled and crossed his arms. "I never had any trouble with it at all. Then she comes along and seems to have some decent abilities in telepathy and it goes haywire, reading any thought that passes over her mind." Hiei had told Kurama of the scanning she had done when she first met them.

"And you can't get it to stop."

Hiei ground his teeth angrily.

"I'll take that as a no." Kurama stood up and walked over to his door, pacing thoughtfully before he turned back to Hiei, "You wouldn't even mention this at all unless it was a problem."

"More like annoying." Hiei growled, his eyes flickering upwards to his bandana.

"That wasn't what I meant. But what are you implying is annoying: the fact that she will apparently be useless or the fact that you keep hearing her thoughts?"

"You know what I meant." Hiei snapped, "If she's of no use to us, why should she even come? She could betray and turn on us, helping whatever we're facing tomorrow."

"If she's of no use to us, then we shouldn't have any problem containing her. Just like we had no problem containing her and bringing her back to Koenma." There was the lightest touch of sarcasm behind Kurama's voice.

Hiei glared at the red-head. "What are you saying, Kurama?"

Kurama sighed, "All I'm saying is, even if she had trouble keeping up with us when we went to get her, she did still beat us. You in particular if you'll recall."

"She got lucky." Hiei pointed out, referring to one of the thoughts he had heard. "And she had that barrier thing."

"Even so. For now Koenma has partnered ourselves with her and if we were in any immediate danger, I believe the Princeling would not have done so." Kurama paced another time. "You know this could be useful to us." Kurama had a hand up to his chin and if he had a beard he probably would have been stroking it. "I am certainly not to the point where I would trust her with my life but if you continue to be capable of reading her thoughts so easily like this-"

"More like forced too." Hiei growled again.

"Then you will be able to alert us to any change in her loyalties." Kurama went on, ignoring the short youkai's comment. "This way we won't be surprised. Not that I will actually be surprised if such a thing does happen."

"Stop showing off. I know how smart you are and I don't care."

"Except when this intelligence helps us in the midst of a battle."

Hiei ducked out the window, not saying anything to the contrary.

Kurama sighed when he was left alone. While he had never seriously considered not trusting this woman, now he would be forced to be on extra guard, to be prepared for if she did turn on them. Oh well. It would keep things interesting.

...

**The next day...**

Kuwabara flexed his biceps, "A little training before we battle. Perfect!" he said as the four guys walked down the hall to the training arena in the Spirit Detective Agency.

"Hn. Just don't wear yourself out before we actually fight anyone."

"What did you say micro man?"

"Your skills in listening match your skills in fighting."

"You are so going to get your—" Kuwabara was interrupted by shouts coming from the arena.

They all picked up the pace and Yusuke threw open the door.

An angry legion of youkai filled the arena floor. The guys heard sounds of battle from somewhere in the middle of them. One was flung over the heads of the others and he slammed into the wall beside the open door, his backbone making a crunching noise before he slid to the ground.

Kuwabara ran forward yelling a battle cry, his spirit sword glowing in his hands, and sliced through the one nearest to him, turning to face the next.

-SYSTEM TURMINATED OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE- A mechanical voice announced.

All of the youkai instantly disappeared, revealing a very shocked Misaki standing in the middle of an empty arena.

"What the..." she saw them by the doorway, and they also looked a bit confused; Kurama with his whip at the ready, Hiei with his katana drawn and Yusuke crouching in an attack position.

Kuwabara stood dumbly, his mouth hanging open and his spirit sword gone from his hands.

"I can't believe you idiots!" she exploded, "Can't you tell the difference between real youkai and fake ones?"

"Ansatsusha! What is going on here?" A voice called from above. A figure appeared beside Misaki. A female figure about medium height wearing a nondescript orange kimono. But what caught everyone's eye definitely wasn't her choice of clothing, it was her hair. It was made of fire. White flames, the hottest kind, reflecting her mood, raged down her back silently, waving and gushing.

Misaki cringed, imaging the roaring sound fire of that magnitude would make.

"Woman, who is this thing?" Hiei growled, speaking to Misaki.

The woman ignored him and glared at Misaki, "So...what happened?"

"It's not my fault! This idiot over here interfered," Misaki waved a hand at Kuwabara.

"That is no reason for insolence!" she raised a hand to hit Misaki's cheek but Misaki moved just out of reach and the swing missed.

A smile played wistfully over Misaki's lips.

The woman kneed Misaki in the stomach, sending her careening into one of the arena's walls, cracking the stone and causing dust to rise.

Misaki stood up as the dust cleared, mumbling about humans who are so dumb that flaming hair entertains them.

_"I'm glad you specified on the human part."_ Hiei's thought brushed across Misaki's mind though she only half-registered it.

Misaki looked over at the guys. Hiei's katana was put up, he decided this female wasn't a threat; Kurama stood smelling a deep red rose and had a slightly amused look on his face; Yusuke and Kuwabara were staring at the woman and Misaki could practically see the drool from where she was. She brushed the dirt off of her clothes.

"How do you expect to prevent any break-in if you're so out of practice that I can kick you across the stadium!" the lady yelled at her.

_"How do you expect me to improve when you're forcing me to do stupid things? Impossible!"_ Misaki's response out loud was simply a nod as she made her way back to the center of the arena and the woman.

Hiei groaned inwardly. He thought that perhaps over the night the Jagan would have gotten over its first obsession. If Misaki was truly as good a telepath as the Jagan thought, surely she would be able to block any mind-reading or even at least notice when her thoughts were being heard. The Jagan bristled up in his head, refusing to talk to him, and continued to study Misaki in its own way.

"I don't think I've introduced you all. This is Coahtu," Misaki told the guys.

Coahtu turned towards the door, as if she was just noticing the four figures standing there. Her arms disappeared into the sleeves of her kimono as she crossed them over the top of her stomach and she inclined her head slightly in greeting. "I take their entrance to mean the end of our session today. I will be watching you Ansatsusha. Do not disappoint me." She closed her eyes and everyone felt a small surge of energy. Her flaming hair grew longer and started to rotate around her. The fire circled faster until they couldn't see Coahtu any longer, then she and fire vanished.

Misaki rolled her eyes, used to the flashy exit, but Kuwabara was staring open mouthed at the place Coahtu had moments before occupied.

"Oh will you get over it! She has no interest whatsoever in humans. Least of all you," Misaki said. Coahtu usually put her in a bad mood and this time was no exception. _"Heh. She would never date a human if her life depended on it."_

_"Hn."_ Hiei thought before he could help it.

_"Will you stop that!" _Misaki thought back at him. "And before you ask, you don't really want to know who she is." Misaki could tell that Kuwabara wanted to know.

"I was actually going to ask how she managed to hit you," Yusuke said begrudgingly. _"First Yukina, now this fire-lady! How come everyone can hit her except me?"_

Misaki bent down to brush off more dust, pretending she hadn't heard him.

"And yet you seem uninjured," Kurama noted.

Hiei looked smug, "It almost makes me wonder if you knew she was going to—" Hiei didn't get to finish.

He slammed hard into the wall a few feet behind him, Misaki's shin across his stomach. Misaki knew that Coahtu was still watching, and listening, and while she figured Coahtu might already know that, she didn't want it spoken out loud. She figured that Hiei knew this.

"Maybe I just know the right way to fall," she whispered fiercely. It had been a long time since she had been around anyone with any amount of intelligence in them. _"And I gotta get used to having a telepath around; I keep forgetting about that stupid Jagan eye he's hiding under his bandana." _She was careful to shield that particular thought.

Misaki alighted on the ground and stepped towards the doorway. It flung open, barely missing her nose. Yukina and Botan stood there, Botan with a noncharacteristic serious look on her face.

"It's time."

Yukina grabbed Misaki's hand, pulling her towards the door.

"Koenma will want to brief you all a bit more before we leave," she explained.

"Why do we need briefed? We know everything we need to. We go, we kick some tail, we come home. What else is there to know?" Yusuke stretched his arm.

"Why is it that when you say it, it sounds as if Koenma's going to talk to you about underwear?" Yukina made a face.

There was a moment of awkward, half-amused silence.

Misaki pulled Yukina out the door after a moment of stillness, "Let's go."

Misaki noticed all of them nodded except Hiei who looked like he wasn't going to do anything but glare at her for a long time. It took a look from Kurama to get Hiei out the arena.

...

Most everyone sat down in a chair or on the couch except Botan, who stood by Koenma; Yukina, who sat down as on Misaki's lap; and Hiei, who leaned against the door.

"All of you are going to be required to go with Misaki. Yes, Botan and Yukina as well," Koenma said as Kuwabara opened his mouth to object, "Misaki will tell you why, if needed."

At this point, Koenma looked a little uncomfortable. He pulled at his collar.

"Also, there is something that I haven't told you at his point. You'll have to...um...go undercover for this one. And...well..."

"I'm supposing here that you haven't told them what this place looks likes." Misaki spoke up.

"Of course he has," Kuwabara glanced over at Yukina, "It's all dark and scary and evil. But don't worry Yukina," he took her hands in his, "I'll be there to protect you."

"You amaze me with your…um...chivalry but I think with you there to protect her, she has every right to worry," Misaki said dryly.

Everyone laughed; Yukina looked solemnly at Kuwabara, and he liked to think her eyes were reassuring him that she would trust him with her life.

"The Waters of Amureo are a sacred—"

"Youkai dancing ritual?" Yusuke provided.

Koenma shot him a look and took up where Misaki left off, "No, it's a barrier between the Makai and the Ningenkai. And it isn't easily broken. However, there are a select few who can do it. Misaki for instance."

_"If only he knew. I really don't think I could at this point. But he just had to add this little bit of information didn't he?"_ Misaki thought to herself.

Koenma went on, "Its counterpart in the Ningenkai is a swimming pool, so of course it has the same properties in the other realms."

"So it's a watering hole."

"No Yusuke," Misaki rolled her eyes, "It's a swimming pool."

Yusuke cocked his head.

"What are you doing now?" Botan asked exasperatedly.

"Trying to imagine a youkai swimming pool."

"But won't the twerp be in trouble?" Kuwabara pointed at Hiei, "Don't his kind like die in water or something?" He sounded a little hopeful.

"Just because I'm a fire youkai does not mean that I melt in water, fool." he retorted.

"You…you're a fire?" Miaski asked.

"Did I not just say that?" Hiei, still leaning against the wall, didn't even look up, "Hn. Is that so surprising?"

"No...no. I mean, yes. I mean I guess I just didn't think about it.," her eyes looked far off into something the others couldn't see. _"Why does it come as a surprise to me? Did I not see it before? …"_

"If these 'waters' are supposed to be so sacred, then why is it a swimming pool, a public one I'm assuming," Kurama's question brought everyone's thoughts back onto the mission.

"They aren't so much sacred as they are inviting," Misaki provided, "It's really quite popular among all classes of youkai," she shrugged, "The name is more for show than deriving any practical purposes."

"I think I'm getting the gist of what we get to do," Botan sounded a bit excited.

Koenma blushed, "Um. Yeah. About that."

Misaki spoke up again for him, "What he's trying to say is that we all have to—"

"Go swimming." Yukina finished, a smile on her face.

"Now why is that so hard to say?" Botan put her hands on her hips and faced Koenma.

"Well it's just that the water is kind of...um," Koenma stopped.

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into gales of laughter and Misaki smiled, "You still haven't changed have you toddie?"

Yusuke tried speaking between heaves of breath, "He's afraid...he," Yusuke didn't get very far.

Yukina looked quizzically at the two of them, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Well Koenma has this fear of water," Misaki's smile grew wider.

"I fail to see the humor in this." Hiei said darkly.

"You would," Misaki retorted.

"It's not that!" Koenma protested a little too loudly, "I just don't like wearing a swimsuit, that's all. I'm glad I get to send you and I don't have to go."

"Um, Koenma-sir?" a blue ogre stuck his head in the door.

The laughing died down a little.

"It's time for your bath, sir."

Koenma sulked as Yusuke and Kuwabara went into hysterics again.

"Um, was it something I said sir?" the ogre looked puzzled.

"No, no," Koenma hopped down from his chair and followed the ogre out. "Everything you need is laid out in the next room," he called as the door shut.

"Kuwabara, Yusuke," Misaki snapped, "You need to take this seriously." Her personality changed the instant Koenma left. Poor Prince. He had no idea how difficult this was really going to be. He thought Misaki was the same Misaki he had know all those years ago.

"Take what seriously?" Yusuke said as they kept laughing, "I never knew Koenma was afraid of—"

"I mean it," her voice grew deathly cold.

Both of them stopped laughing out of surprise of her sudden change of mood.

"The reason Koenma needs me to come with you, the reason Botan and Yukina are coming, is because no man has ever been able to face what you're about to go up against."

"Man? You're calling them men?" was Hiei's snide remark. He went on before the other two could protest, "And what makes you think a woman can do any better?"

"I would like to know the same thing, though perhaps not in the same words," Kurama added.

"You'll find out when the time is right." Misaki didn't want to talk about it anymore. So Kuwabara piped up.

"I can take him all by myself. No need for any of the rest of you to come." He stood and flexed his muscles.

"This is no matter of brute strength, or brute stupidity whichever you prefer," she grinned impishly, "And none of you have ever been to the Waters before. Trust me; you won't be able to handle them on your own."

"Them?" Kurama asked.

Misaki sauntered for the doorway, ignoring him. Hiei stepped in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, glaring into his, "Care to get out of my way." It wasn't a request.

He noticed she was his height again. But he was too irritated to think about it, "I believe he asked you a question."

"And I believe I am not answering it."

The room got dead silent.

Misaki coolly brushed past him, leaving everyone, including Hiei, in a state of shock. "I expect to see you all back in the arena in an hour."

"And if we choose not to come?" Hiei scowled at her, recovering quickly.

"Then I leave without you." She shut the door behind her.

"I don't trust her," Hiei said as soon as she left.

"We couldn't tell." Kurama smiled a little.

"I don't either," Botan agreed with him.

Everyone's jaws dropped open. Botan? The eternal optimist? Not trust someone? Surely somewhere part of the Makai was freezing over.

"Which is why I'm not letting her go alone," she quickly added, "She could help who ever it is get through the barrier instead of preventing them from coming through it."

_"She will." _Hiei agreed silently.

"She knows more than she's telling." Kuwabara frowned at the door Misaki just disappeared through.

They all just stared at him. He had said something smart again.

"What? Didn't you see the look on her face?" Kuwabara's frown deepened again, "She knows who is coming through the portal."

"And she won't tell us. Another reason not to trust her." Botan crossed her arms and nodded sagely.

"I also seem to remember hearing about an accident Misaki supposedly caused concerning you. One that upset you quite a bit Botan. Do you think that could possibly intrude on your better judgment?" Kurama pointed out. He knew as well as anyone else that Botan never acted this way about anybody.

"Where did you learn this juicy bit of information?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't think Kurama has a right to be talking of such things." Botan glowered at him.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked ready to know about the incident but Kurama ignored them and stood gracefully.

"Such as it is, I believe that we should get ready if we are not going to allow Misaki to go on her own."

"Alright," Yusuke got up and stretched, "Let's get this over with."

_"My sediments exactly." _Hiei thought.

Botan walked over to a door in the office and opened it, "Hey, there are rooms in here with our names on them. I guess we have to get changed." She was back to her old chipper self again.

Everyone walked over to see. Six doors. Six names. Botan walked over to her door and opened it, "Yukina, I can help you with suntan lotion when you get ready."

"Okay," The Koorime walked softly over to her own door and went in.

"Wonder what's in here..." Kuwabara walked over to the door with his name on it.

"A youkai whose only goal in life is to bring about your death," Hiei said, going to his door.

"Really?" Kuwabara cringed back from the handle.

"No you dolt," Yusuke hit Kuwabara on the back of the head.

"It's only true because I'm out here." Hiei said as he entered his room.

* * *

-lotsm


	4. Amureo Arc:: Waters of Amureo

A/N: Yo. Another chapter. w00t.

O/C3: The guys meet Coahtu, a woman with fire for hair who seems to be a trainer of Misaki of sorts. Koenma tells them that the Waters are actually a swimming pool and that they have to go undercover to stop the a youkai from breaking into the Makai. An hour has passed since Koenma's final briefing and everyone makes their way to the battle arena they found Misaki in before...

* * *

Misaki had gotten to the arena first and had half-heartedly hoped that no one else would come. But everyone did show up; Yukina and Botan first, then Kurama and Hiei and last of all Kuwabara and Yusuke.

At the exact moment the hour arrived, a portal opened. But it was dark.

"Um, aren't we supposed to be able to see the other side?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes, under normal circumstances I suppose. But we have to walk through a sort of 'in-between' place in order to reach the right door."

"So you can't just open a portal directly to the Waters." Kurama summed up.

"Right. That would be too easy now wouldn't it?" She looked critically at Kuwabara and Yusuke who had shown up in their swim-trunks, bare-chested, each with a towel over one shoulder. Likewise with Botan and Yukina, save they had swim-suits on. Everyone wore sandals, except Kurama and Hiei who had on their regular clothes.

Misaki chuckled, she wore her usual clothing as well, "If you think this is going to be a walk in the park, prepare yourself," she stepped through the portal and was immersed in darkness.

Misaki paused for a moment, waiting for the others to bustle through the opening. Once everyone had come in, the portal automatically closed behind them silently. The darkness was deep and overpowering. She counted the heartbeats in the black stillness. Everyone was there.

_"The two Spirit Detective youkai are adept at being quiet. Well…the youkai and that spirit vessel. For a human he's overwhelming silent. But neither can stop their strange youkai hearts from beating."_ She could barely hear Kurama and Hiei's breathing—as opposed to the others—but their heartbeats were strong and steady.

No one could see it, but Hiei raised an eyebrow in the darkness.

_"I kept forgetting that you can read minds."_

_"Hn._

"Okay, so you need to follow me. And don't get lost."

"Wait!" Yusuke said, reaching out a hand in the black around him.

Misaki had started to move off, but stopped.

"How are we supposed to follow you when we can't see you?" Yukina asked.

"I can see her just fine," Kuwabara said, "Follow me!"

"Fool. You can't see her. And Yukina can't see you either." Hiei told him.

"Oh. Right."

Misaki sighed, trying to tell herself that they were only human and that she couldn't expect too much from them. Going solo had its perks, one being that you didn't have to deal with people you didn't want to deal with.

_"While they are as dumb as they seem, do not underestimate them completely."_

_"I don't see you as one to defend them. Or anyone else for that matter. And I thought you were still mad at me."_ Hiei didn't respond, but then again, she hadn't expected him to. She was surprised that he would come to their defense. Then she remembered that the conversation had happened silently and that the two humans in question would never know it took place. Unless she told them.

A silent threat rose into her mind, unformed but still definite. Misaki rolled her eyes; she had no desire to tell them they were actually held in high esteem by their sullen little colleague. The threat remained but wasn't as intense and headache-inducing as before.

While the unspoken words passed between them, Misaki opened her hand and released a ball of bright spirit energy. It floated upwards, suspending itself above and a little to the left of her head, which wasn't actually all that tall anyway. The silvery strands of her hair glinted slightly in the light.

"Better?"

"Yes, much."

"Just try not to trip all over each other." The ball gave off just enough light that Misaki could see about a foot in radius all around her.

The hallway was quite cold and gave one the sensation of being watched all the time. Within a few minutes of walking, Kuwabara and Yusuke had their towels wrapped around their shoulders.

"Misaki, I don't think the temperature is warm enough for the others." Yukina piped up quietly from her side.

Misaki shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. She had been thinking about Hiei. More specifically, the fact that he was a fire youkai. Her brother had been killed by a fire youkai.

She looked behind her at the others. While Yukina and Hiei were not affected, and Kurama less so than the others, Kuwabara, Yusuke and Botan were all shivering.

"I'm sorry. Just a little farther." She held out the towel hanging over her arm to Botan. Kurama and Hiei both noticed the instant of hesitation from the girl before she reached out and accepted the offering.

"I hope the water isn't cold." Yusuke grumbled.

"It shouldn't be," Misaki replied absently. She continued on. It paid to be wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt. With shoes and socks of course. Misaki had been down this way all too often to not automatically wear appropriate clothing.

Everyone's minds where wandering and Misaki could hear their thoughts. Of course, some of them she didn't really want to hear. Like Kuwabara's.

He was just thinking about how he could get closer to Yukina without alerting Misaki that he was doing so. He was kind of scared of Misaki, she was rather interested to find out. But it was mostly because of Coahtu's actions and not anything Misaki had done. Yet.

She didn't really want to hear Yusuke's thoughts for that matter either. For the most part they held no significance for her. But Kurama's were kind of interesting. She could sense the second consciousness residing, sleeping almost, silently beneath the first but she didn't invade his mind, reserving some things for privacy unless invited, but she could hear his main thoughts without any effort.

In fact, at the moment, he was thinking about her. Which constituted as an invitation in Misaki's book.

_"I feel like I know her from somewhere. I know I've heard of her but she seems quite familiar to me." _Kurama frowned.

_"You're probably unintentionally recalling suppressed familiarity from Yoko. He and I are…acquainted."_ Misaki told him.

Misaki could feel his surprise.

Kurama heard her chuckle in his head.

_"Sorry vessel, I did not intend to startle you, but the conversation you're having in your head is so much more interesting than anyone else's. And you were thinking about me."_

_"I have a question for you if you don't mind..."_

_"Yes?" _

He had more than one question for her, and both of them knew it but Kurama was the polite sort and wouldn't push any more than he deemed appropriate. He decided to ask something he basically had the answer too, just to see if she would give him a truthful response.

_"When we were retrieving you, as soon as Kuwabara stepped into the clearing, he was unable to move or speak. At some point during the fight, each of us became affected by this strange occurrence."_

Misaki knew he wasn't finished and so she remained quiet, only letting him know that she was listening.

_"I attacked you in the forest with my rose whip but your skin did not bleed."_

_"Correct."_

_"At that point I was frozen where I stood and you somehow gained control of my rose whip and wrapped me up in it."_

_"This also happened. Truly you have a stunning memory."_

Kurama ignored her remark and continued, _"You then said that our weapons couldn't harm you in that clearing."_

_"I suppose I did let that slip didn't I?"_

_"You had a barrier up around the clearing, one that you either retrieved or destroyed before you came back with us to Koenma."_

_"Destroyed actually."_

_"Why?"_

_"Why did I destroy it or why did I have the barrier up?"_

_"The latter."_

_"Privacy is the simple answer."_

Kurama waited to see if she would elaborate.

_"There are times when I do not enjoy being bothered, and so I can set up a device around a certain area that will, in essence, freeze those who enter its radius."_

Kurama still didn't say anything. Even with the barrier, how were they still able to move and speak most of the time? Weapons were not supposed to 'affect' her as she put it, but Hiei's katana did slice through her palm. And if she did not want to be bothered, why didn't she just leave when Kuwabara triggered it?

He may not have intended to actually ask Misaki these things but she heard him nonetheless.

_"You all intrigued me, to answer the second question. I recognized you personally right off, though the others did take awhile for me to remember. I wanted to know why you were allied with them, visa versa. And the fact that you all were rather unaffected by the barrier sparked my interest as well."_

_"We were too strong for it." _Kurama noted, having figured this out already. He only thought a moment ago 'how they were able to move and speak most of the time' to see if she would answer it without him actually asking her.

_"You, vessel, are too smart for your own good." _Misaki caught his little trick once he thought about it.

Kurama felt that if they had been talking face-to-face that she would have waggled a finger at him. Feeling as if she was willing to answer another, he talked to her again.

_"Yukina and you appear to know each other well."_

_"Yes."_

_"When did you meet?"_

_"…It was a long time ago. I've known her since she was very small."_

_"Since she was born?"_

_"…No."_

_"How did you meet?"_

_"If I told you I would have to kill you." _Misaki joked, though behind the jest was a grain of truth.

_"I apologize. We do not know each other well enough. Perhaps once we know one other better…"_

_"Perhaps."_

_"May I ask another question?"_

_"If you wish. I do not guarantee an answer as you know."_

_"I noticed that your height changes."_

_"My height?"_ Misaki echoed.

_"When standing next to Yusuke or Botan, your height is equal to theirs. But when you stand next to Hiei, your height is the same as his. You never grow quite as tall as me, and there is no change at all when you are next to Kuwabara."_

Misaki thought about it. She never really noticed before. Was he right? Well...yes. She remembered looking into Yusuke's eyes at some point, but she did have to look up to see into Kuwabara's in the forest as well as Kurama's. And she did remember she was Hiei's height because he blocked her way to the door.

_"So is there any logical explanation for it, or would you have to kill me if you told me?"_

Misaki knew he was smiling,_ "Um. Actually…until you said that, I never really thought about it. It's been a long time since I've been around people of any sort. Maybe it happened before now and I never noticed. It could have to do with what my brother…"_ She trailed off, thinking more to herself than to Kurama. Which meant that he lost her thoughts as soon as she trailed back into her own mind.

_"With what your brother…?"_

He asked it a second time before Misaki noticed he was actually trying to talk to her. She was going to respond with 'If I told you I'd have to kill you' but she felt the sudden strong pull of the Waters to her right.

Hiei was following close behind her, making sure that if she took off and left them, he could see what direction she took, so he ran into her when she stopped.

"We're here," she said out loud, pulling herself from Kurama's mind. She turned toward them and made the ball brighter so she could see everyone's faces.

"Alright," she said in a lecture voice.

Yusuke and Kuwabara groaned, recognizing the tone.

"We'll need to fit in here. This means no picking fights and trying to act normal and sociable. If some random youkai comes up to you and starts a conversation, act like you know what they're talking about," She took a breath, "Secondly, no one is going to recognize any of you. It's one of the effects of the Waters but that doesn't mean they won't recognize your spirit energy signature so try to keep that under wraps. One more thing," She looked at the two human boys, "Don't let them know you're not youkai. Any questions, comments, concerns?" She went on immediately, not giving a chance for any such words, "Well, a concern besides the fact that if anyone figures out who you are, you'll be dead before you can even attempt to convince them they're wrong."

"Stop treating us like children," Hiei glared at her.

"The day you stop acting like a child is the day I stop treating you like one," she told him, "And by the way," she looked back over her shoulder at Hiei and Kurama as she reached for the trigger for the portal to open, "Blending in means you're in the water. Swimming." She looked pointedly at their outfits.

"And what about you?" Kurama asked calmly.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much for your concern. And don't act surprised when once I get in there. That will certainly give you away."

"Act surprised about what?" Kuwabara asked.

"They will assume that you know me decently enough for me to bring you here with me. If it looks like you don't know me, they'll be suspicious. And acting surprised at me is a surefire way to put them on that track of thought."

"Just open the door," Botan said impatiently.

Misaki shrugged, "Suit yourself." She opened the portal and stepped through, the others following cautiously behind.

A bright light flashed, and everyone had to blink several times so they could see.

Once everyone's eyes cleared, they realized that the pool was in fact teeming with youkai, but the pool was huge and quite a few more could have fit in comfortably.

There were various youkai splashing around in the water, several jumping off the diving board. A few were scattered around the edge, some sunbathing, others sitting with their feet dangling into the water.

Misaki motioned to her left, "There are locker-rooms over there."

Kurama and Hiei moved off in that direction.

"Misaki!"

"Hey look! It's Misaki!"

"The Ansatsusha? Where?"

"Over here! Hey, when did you get back?"

Youkai swarmed around them.

"When did I ever leave?" Misaki asked with mock-innocence.

"Who is this?" Some of the more brave female youkai spotted Yusuke and sidled up to him.

"He's a new friend, why don't you girls make him a little more comfortable?"

"Gladly," one of them grabbed his arm and the females led him off into the pool.

Misaki chuckled. Much to her surprise, however, some of them grabbed Kuwabara and took him as well. Misaki turned to scoot Botan and Yukina off, but Botan had mingled off and a few younger youkai managed to convince shy Yukina to come with them.

_"Okay. I did miss this. I'll admit it. At least, I'll admit it in my head." _She smiled at the youkai still around her.

A very tall one with slicked-back black hair reached out his hand like a gentleman, "Would you like to join me in the water, Ansatsusha?"

The other youkai noticed him, but were too busy talking excitedly amongst themselves about her return.

...

Hiei and Kurama came out of the locker room and saw Misaki surrounded.

"That man looks familiar. And I don't trust Misaki for one second by herself."

Kurama suppressed a smile, "Does this have to do with the fact that she has a rather large following here, or something else?"

Hiei didn't answer.

"Though I agree," Kurama went on, "There is something familiar about him."

They watched as she took his hand and the whole group moved towards the water. The other youkai jumped in, but Misaki hung back to sit down at one of the tables. The man sat down beside her and they seemed to be talking.

...

A youkai female popped her head out of the water and pointed over at Hiei and Kurama.

"What's with them?" she asked Misaki.

Misaki stood up and undressed, revealing her swim suit underneath.

_"What did she ask?"_

_"She wants to know why you two aren't blending in," _Misaki told the fire youkai angrily.

"They're new at this," Misaki explained.

"First time here for them, huh?"

"Yup."

Another female's head appeared and she turned to her friend, "I think he's kind of cute."

"Which one?" the other asked.

"They're both cute," the second giggled.

"Go and introduce yourselves," Misaki prompted.

"Are they with you, Misaki?" a third wanted to know.

All three of them giggled again and Misaki headed for the diving board. She glanced at Hiei and Kurama as she walked off; they were in the water.

_"Good, took them long enough." _she went to the end of the line and waited for the show-offs in front of her to finish.

"Misaki, show us something worthy!"

Misaki smirked and got onto the end of the board, "What am I? A side-show for your personal amusement?"

The youkai laughed, "Not at all. Just give us something we can enjoy."

She made a deep sweeping bow, "My only thought is to entertain you."

Several other youkai laughed as they tuned in to the conversation and a few of the others in the pool stopped what they were doing to watch her.

"Well?" one of them asked impatiently.

Misaki grinned as she turned and walked to the back of the board, knowing that the guys were watching her as well. So she did enjoy showing off. So sue her. She only did it because they were there.

She took a deep breath and turned. She ran to the edge of the board, bounced down hard and jumped high over the water. She heard cheering as she twisted her body a few times in the air, flipping quickly afterwards so that her head faced the water before straightening out, diving jackknife style down into the water, making hardly any splash at all. The water felt cool against her skin. Just because she had been by herself for a long time didn't mean that she had given up on swimming and diving. It was one of her relaxation activities. She had worked on that particular dive for a while but she was a bit rusty.

Misaki came up by Yusuke. The girls around him squealed as she splashed water at them. They started pelting her with questions.

"Misaki, we missed you!"

"Why did you have to go and leave us all of a sudden?" one pouted.

"Yeah, you didn't even give us any warning, just poof, off the face of the earth."

"What was up with that?"

"Oh I just had some business I had to take care of," Misaki evaded their questioning.

"Hey Misaki! Can we steal you for a moment?" a couple of voices called from a ways a way.

"Sorry girls. Keep him company," Misaki grinned savagely and swam elegantly towards the owners of the voices.

For the next few hours, everything went on as it usually did at the Waters. Splashing, playing, everyone enjoying themselves and, for once, there weren't any fights; partly because Misaki was there. The youkai began to get tired or bored, so they started leaving. The man who had taken Misaki's hand earlier and Misaki talked in the deep end of the water, watching the last few youkai leave.

"Those two look to me as if they're planning something," Hiei said under his breath.

Kurama kept his opinion to himself, but looked at the pair Hiei was grumbling about, "He does seem familiar to me; the slick black hair..."

"Hn. Yusuke." Hiei responded.

Kurama took a good look, and then shrugged, "That's probably it. I guess everyone with hair like Yusuke's will look like Yusuke to me anymore."

...

The man reached over to Misaki and ran his fingers through her hair once, "Guess I'd better be going too." He got out and dried off.

Misaki dove back under the water to the shallower end of the pool. The girls were saying goodbye to Yusuke, Kuwabara was attempting to work on his tan, and Botan and Yukina were having a water fight. Misaki called them all over.

"So now what?" Kuwabara asked.

Misaki gave him a blank look.

"He means what do we do now? Obviously none of those youkai were the one we were looking for because none of them are left." Hiei crossed his arms.

Misaki looked over at him, "I knew the moment we walked in that he wasn't here. Could you not tell?" _"Partly because it would have been rather obvious if he had been here. He isn't known for his subtly."_

Hiei narrowed his eyes.

"So what do we do now?" Yusuke repeated the question.

"We wait." she said simply.

"And what if he doesn't show up?" Kurama wanted to know.

"Oh he will. Trust me. He will."

* * *

Slicked-back black hair. Try saying that five times fast…

-lotsm


	5. Amureo Arc:: Battle with Amureo

A/N: Nut'in to say. Enjoy.

O/C4: They 'finally' get to the Waters of Amureo, and not much happens. Misaki says she knew that the youkai they were looking for wasn't there yet, but he would definitely show up…

* * *

Misaki eventually got into the hot-tub attached to the pool while everyone else had a water fight. Needing some time to think, she closed her eyes, listening to the almost furious hum of the jets. After a few moments, she felt the water move around to make room for another person.

"Something wrong Hiei?"

"You're the one who says this guy is going to show. You looked asleep."

"I don't sleep if you must know and yes he will show." Misaki sat up and opened her eyes.

"You don't sleep." he echoed flatly, unbelieving.

Misaki didn't answer him.

The water fight got more intense and cool droplets of water landed on her face. She had to smile as she heard laughter carry over the water to her ears. She could easily pick out the laughs and match them with who they belonged to. The two girl's laughs, lighter than the rest, Kuwabara's belting laugh, Yusuke's lighter and Kurama's chuckle.

Time passed, and while Yukina pleaded for Misaki to come and help her and Botan win the fight, Misaki didn't move from her spot. A full moon rose overhead, casting a pale sheen on the water and then reflecting its light onto the ripples. The water became cold and everyone piled into the hot-tub. Thankfully, Misaki thought, it was rather big, meant to hold several large ogres.

Yusuke started yawning, which of course made almost everyone else yawn too. Kuwabara fell asleep at least twice, and would slowly sink down until he woke up and sputtered water out of his mouth.

"Botan?"

"Hmm?" The Styx Guide was gazing up at the dark sky overhead.

A cool breeze picked up and swept through everyone's almost dry hair.

"I think you'd better take these guys home."

"And what about you?"

"I'm fine, but they aren't used to all-nighters. They've had a day full of swimming and that tires most anyone out. I can handle this on my own and they'll be of no use if they can't stand to fight."

Yukina sleepily blinked her eyes, "I am not ti—" she yawned.

Botan got out of the churning water and grabbed a towel from a pile on a table near them. Misaki helped Yukina step out and Botan quickly wrapped the girl's shoulders in a towel.

"Come on you guys," Botan shivered, "Hurry up."

"Is it cold?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Yes, very! So hurry up!"

Kuwabara sunk deep into the hot water and shook his head.

"Come on yah big baby," Yusuke got out, stumbling and almost falling back in.

Kuwabara inched his way to the edge and lunged for a towel.

Botan looked down at Hiei who would have been the next to step out.

"I don't trust her." Hiei crossed his arms, obviously not moving to get out of the water.

Misaki rolled her eyes.

"I think you should stay Kurama," Botan told him, "If only to keep the two of them from strangling each other.

Kurama, half-way out of the water, nodded and slipped back in the hot tub without protest, as Botan bustled the other three out of the night air.

As soon as they were gone, Misaki got out and dove into the pool.

She noticed even under water when ominous clouds started gathering over the moon. She swam over to the edge of the hot tub.

"Get out of the water." she ordered.

Neither of them moved and she sensed that Hiei wasn't going to do anything she wanted anyway.

"I said, get out of the water. Do you want me to spell it out for you? Or maybe you'd rather that I threw you out myself."

Kurama obliged, sensing the urgency in her voice. Hiei only got out because Kurama gave him a look. They grabbed towels from the nearby table, Kurama shivering from the sudden change in temperature from the nice and warm hot tub to the chilly night air.

Misaki swam to the middle of the deep end as they began to dry themselves off.

"What are you doing?" Kurama asked.

"I'm checking something," she dove down to the bottom.

Water was moving in a slow spiral at the deepest part of the pool.

_"Good, the barrier is still holding. He hasn't broken through yet."_

_"Well that's wonderful news,"_ a cynical voice told her.

_"I told you he would come. And get out of my head!"_ Misaki blocked Hiei out as she ran a hand over the invisible barrier's shimmering surface. A fine crack started to form and shot like wildfire from one side to the other.

Furiously, she swam for the top, inwardly cursing all the while. Her head burst from the water and she quickly flipped her hair behind her shoulder so she could see clearly.

"Misaki?" Kurama called. He had seen her rapid ascent.

"I didn't expect him to break through so soon." She explained.

"Hn. What did you expect? A ten minute reprise?"

Misaki shot Hiei an angry glare as she swam for the edge.

"Misaki! Look out!" Kurama ran towards her.

Misaki turned to see an underwater spout had suddenly surged from a small opening the cracks had formed. A pillar of water wrapped itself around her and took her back down to the bottom. An indistinct shape rose from the depths of the barrier.

"Misaki!"

She wasn't sure who said her name but she had other things on her mind at the moment. She struggled inside the pillar.

The youkai drew her close to him and she could feel his chest forming against her back as he started to take on a more human form.

_"Misaki, how I've longed to see you." _The pillar of water she was struggling to get out of formed into two firm water-hands wrapped around her torso. His distinct, soundless laughter rang through her head and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

_"Don't jump in!"_ she shouted into Kurama and Hiei's minds. She could feel their desire to fight.

_"Would a death tree seed work against him?"_ Misaki heard Kurama's question.

"_Throw it in the water! But aim for the barrier itself!" _She struggled, but the arms just held her tighter.

_"It won't work whatever you're planning in that pretty little head of yours."_ The water youkai put his lips close to her ear, "Nothing you do can hurt me now." His transformation was speeding up.

_"What the heck's so hard about throwing a seed into the water?"_ Misaki asked them.

_"Hn. He already did. Or can you not tell?"_

Misaki's occupation with escaping let the seed drift by, silently sinking until it touched the cracked barrier.

The sprout, in the presence of so much energy, quickly shot up and spread over the portal like a vine, blocking the water youkai's passage.

"What?" His head turned downward and it was all the distraction Misaki needed.

She elbowed his stomach and he released her. She tried to swim out of reach, but he recovered too quickly and snatched her ankle, pulling her back down. The effort of escape forced what seemed like gallons of water down Misaki's throat and she had no more breath. She curved around to point her hands at him. A huge pulse of water shot forward as her hands blasted spirit energy at him and he was momentarily thrown back.

He let go, knowing he'd lost her, and turned to get free from the rapidly growing tree.

Misaki reached a hand up to grab the edge of the pool, but she was still too far down. Her vision started closing in around her when a hand appeared and grabbed for hers, pulling her the rest of the way up out of the churning pool.

Misaki immediately fell to her knees, planting her hands on the solid concrete and coughing up the water caught in her lungs.

Kurama knelt beside her and moved the dripping hair caught across her face out of the way.

"Are you alright?"

Misaki coughed, "I will be. I think." She took a deep breath and smiled, still coughing, "Thanks."

"It wasn't me. I was concentrating on the tree." Kurama knew that the short swordsman would grab for her, allowing Kurama to keep his full attention on blockading the barrier.

Misaki looked over at Hiei who was ignoring her situation with a practiced ease.

_"Thanks."_

His response was a slight glance in her direction, an indication that he heard her.

"He's feeing himself from the tree, if you'd like to know."

"What?" Kurama stepped over to the edge.

Misaki nodded, standing up, "He's strong. Really strong."

"I take it you know him."

She nodded again.

Misaki heard a splash and looked up, "Hiei!"

She watched in horror as Hiei swam towards the youkai. Misaki felt Kurama make a move beside her and she grabbed his arm, yanking him away from the poolside.

"Don't you dare," she hissed, "It's bad enough Mr. Bandanna jumped in."

Kurama shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts, "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Your friend there just took the jump of doom," Misaki kept her hand tightly on Kurama's arm.

"Jump of...doom?"

"Hiei a guy. This youkai doesn't like guys. In fact, his very presence kills guys. And what's more, his presence just happens to be surrounded by water which amplifies that. Hence the statement, 'your friend just took the jump of doom.'"

"So that's why Koenma wanted you and Yukina and Botan to come with us?"

Misaki nodded, "I literally meant what I said when I told you that no man could stand up to him and live."

"So you're the one that has to go and get Hiei."

Misaki didn't look at Kurama.

"What's wrong?" he asked in response to her hesitation, "He will die remember?"

"Of course I remember," she retorted irritably, "It's just that..."

"It's just that..." Kurama repeated, his tone more urgent now.

"Never mind," she mumbled, pushing Kurama back farther and standing at the pool's edge. In the water she saw the pinkish glowing eyes of the water youkai. Hiei was floating dead-like and the youkai circled around him triumphantly. In his mind, he wagered with himself; would she come after him, or leave him to die? The odds were in favor of her leaving him to die. She narrowed her eyes, she hated to disappoint him but she enjoyed going against the odds.

"Misaki," Kurama urged when she hesitated again, reminding her of the importance of time.

She jumped in.

"Let him go." She sank into the depths, legs straight, awaiting the ground with arms crossed. The way the barrier was opening allowed her to breathe and talk underwater as easily as the water youkai himself did.

"So you're speaking to me now, hm?" The youkai's features were more substantial but he still retained his water form. Misaki could now pick out his long bluish hair and lighter blue skin from the water, but waist down was still a spiral circling around Hiei and down into the barrier. With his crossed arms, he looked much like a genie coming out of a lamp. A very dangerous genie.

Misaki thought quickly. Hiei was mostly dead, if not all dead, but if she didn't get him out of the water he would most certainly be all dead in no time. A part of her was shouting that she should let him die. If only one more could die in place of her brother maybe it would help…Misaki shook her head. Besides, the odds were not in her favor.

"You know. Since you are speaking to me now, I'd really like to be called by my true name. Just for old time's sake. After all," he made a sweeping motion with his hand, indicating the water around them, "These waters are named for me."

"Well then, Amureo," she emphasized the name, "You won't mind if I take back my fire youkai now do you?"

_"I belong to no one."_

_"Oh. Oh great. So you're mostly dead and you can still hear the conversation. Do you really want to float there for the rest of what's left of your life? If you don't, please shut up and let me talk."_

"Your fire youkai?" Amureo tapped his chin with a finger. "Ah, you mean him. Couldn't I just kill him? He is a he, nasty creature," Amureo made a face, "And you don't like fire youkai anyway. But you don't really need to be reminded of that, do you Ansatsusha?"

No. She didn't need to be reminded. But if there was one thing that set her off more than fire youkai, it was losing a bet.

"You know Amureo, I made this bet with myself the last time we met."

"Really? I'm dying to hear it."

_"Of course you are. You think that stalling for more time means you'll be able to break through the barrier completely."_

_"That's encouraging." _The weak thought brushed against her mind and still managed to sound perturbed.

_"Vessel?" _Misaki ignored Hiei and projected her thoughts towards the kitsune still on the land.

_"Yes?"_

_"Is there any of that tree left?"_

Kurama closed his eyes briefly. The faint song of the death tree, garbled because of the water, still whispered lightly against his consciousness.

_"Yes. It can still be used."_

"You see Amureo, I made a bet with myself about how long I could stay away from you."

"But you missed me so you had to lose the bet." Amureo smiled devilishly.

"No. You see, I don't miss." There was an undertone of foreshadowing in her voice.

Amureo smiled at her, but something passed behind his eyes. His plan was perfect and yet she seemed so confident. Well, two could be confident. He knew how to play that game.

"You're fooling yourself my little Ansatsusha. You just couldn't stay away. You did me a favor and I just can't understand why you won't let me return it." He snaked forward in the water, closer to her than before. Their bodies weren't touching but at the slightest movement they would be.

Thoughts quickly flashed through Misaki's mind. It had been so long since she relied on the help of others. She wasn't used to working in a team. What if Kurama wasn't ready yet? What if he wasn't going to do what she asked?

_"Any time now, vessel."_

_"It's done."_

_"Wonderful."_

"Amureo, I'm only here to help you out." She smiled her most dazzling, wicked smile and opened her palm for him to take her hand. "Don't you want to be back here, back where you belong? The Makai and me. What more could you ask for?"

Betrayal. That was the word that flashed across Hiei's mind. She had betrayed them. His eyes opened ever-so-slightly and he watched as if in slow motion. He had known she would do it. No one ever understood, ever took the time to look into her eyes. He knew there was nothing in them but betrayal. She would release this water youkai into the Makai from which he had been banished.

Hiei watched, feeling his heart beat slowing down, as Amureo hesitated for a moment before taking her hand.

There was a huge flash of light from beneath Hiei as the barrier below him shattered and the gaping hole between worlds was opened.

Triumph shone in Amureo's eyes. "I knew you would always wait for me, Ansatsusha. I knew you would…."

Hiei went unconscious from overexposure to Amureo's deadly aura.

...

Amureo drew Misaki closer to him and she tried not to blanch. If she had, the plan would have been ruined.

"So what should we do first?" He asked, purring the words into her ear. A jolt went up his body and he felt something latch onto his leg, jerking him backwards.

"Well, you can get your slimy hands off of me for starters." Misaki landed a solid punch to his face and Amureo let go of her, his brain jarred to the back of his head. He cradled his head in his hands.

The barrier was beginning to suck Amureo back into it and he was a ways away from her before he realized it.

He glared daggers at her and reached towards her faster than Misaki expected, his arm becoming a pillar of water again.

He latched onto her leg, the barrier pulling him back into the Ningenkai faster than before, but now she was going with him.

A burst of pain attacked her mind, giving her an instant headache which faded just as quickly as it came.

Something flew past Misaki's shoulder while she was distracted, snapping the water that held her leg and opening several small wounds on her skin. But it worked. Amureo let go of her to rid himself of the pain. He reached for her again, but cringed back as he was attacked.

"Then I shall take you both with me." Amureo cried fiercely, pointing one hand at Misaki and the other at Hiei. Vortexes of water formed around them both, sucking them down with Amureo.

Misaki swam for Hiei, grabbing him around the waist with one arm and reaching up to hold onto the rose whip that had just wrapped itself around her waist.

No matter the power that Amureo issued into the vortexes, the pair in the water did not moved forward.

"I will be back for you Misaki." Amureo told her as he was swept back through the barrier. "And you won't be expecting me the next time."

Misaki didn't answer, concentrating instead of holding Hiei and the whip. She felt the thorns deeply lacerating her hand, so tight was her grip, and blood was also leaking out of the wounds on her waist.

She began swimming upwards as soon as Amureo disappeared and the water grew still, her movement faster because the rose whip was pulling her up as well.

Kurama was at the edge of the water and he fell down to one knee as she surfaced, taking Hiei from her as she handed him off.

Hiei lay still where he was put and Kurama turned back to help Misaki out of the water.

She reached up with her good hand as Kurama offered help and was surprised when he easily pulled her from the water with just that one hand.

Misaki collapsed onto the ground, sitting tiredly with her cut leg out in front of her and holding one arm around her waist.

"I apologize for the injuries." Kurama sat next to her, holding out a towel and putting another over her bare shoulders.

She took it, shivering as the cold wind swept by, gathering it into her other hand which was still bleeding. Her leg jerked when Kurama wiped the blood from it with another towel.

"I'm sorry." He said again, tightly wrapping her leg with the towel.

"Don't be." Misaki grimaced when she spoke, clutching at her stomach again.

"I seem to have ruined your bathing suit."

Misaki laughed, quickly stopping when her muscles protested, "Of all the things to worry about, I think that's the least of them, vessel." She nodded her head towards Hiei.

"Will he live?"

"Maybe." She listened for a moment, "His heart is still beating. But that doesn't mean he's alive."

"I am disappointed in you, Ansatsusha." A cold voice came from the shadows.

_"Oh man. I do not want to mess with this right now."_ Misaki groaned inwardly.

Coahtu stood a few feet to her left, glaring angrily at her.

"Had it not been for this boy," Her eyes flicked to Kurama and rested back on Misaki, "You would be dead. Or worse."

"Had it not been for you, my brother would still be alive." Misaki snapped back in a tone of voice Kurama had never heard her use before.

Coahtu said nothing, her hair flaming white in a sudden surge of anger before returning to its normal red-orange color.

Misaki stood with some effort, her head looking over her shoulder at Coahtu, daring the one with fire for hair to say something else.

Kurama had been standing a moment before and he stood still, waiting for the outcome.

The breeze picked up again and the towel on Misaki's shoulders flew off. Kurama reached out a hand and caught it just as it began to pass by him, bringing his arm back down to his side, the towel flapping to be free from his grasp.

Coahtu's eyes flicked beyond Misaki to look at Kurama briefly, but her glare returned to Misaki.

Everyone's hair blew in the wind and a momentary warmth passed over their skin as the wind became less cold.

Coahtu looked around as if she could see the breeze, then she turned, "We're going to have a nice long talk later, you and I." and walked away, leaving a bit of silence behind as her hair flared around her body and she disappeared.

Misaki collapsed again and waved a hand at Kurama who hovered over her, concerned.

"You've lost a lot of blood." He saw that her face was pale.

"But we would have lost a lot more than that had you not acted when and how you did. And for that I am grateful. My thanks." She nodded to him. "Hiei should be taken away from here." Here she stood up again and staggered a step forward before Kurama steadied her. "There's an amulet in the left pocket of my jeans."

He went over to the table her clothes were folded up at and found the item she indicated, handing it back to her. It glowed briefly in her hand and a portal opened up near them, showing Koenma's office on the other side.

"You can portal out of the Waters, but not into them." Misaki explained. "Someone will come and get them." She said when Kurama made a move to pick up her clothes. "His life is more important."

Kurama picked Hiei up and stepped through the portal with her.

"He can't even stay awake until we finish the assignment." Misaki felt her legs giving out again and she sat down on the floor. "Oy ogre! Wake Toddie up!" She commanded the ogre who sat napping in front of a door that connected Koenma's office to his rooms.

"But Koenma-sir said no one was to bother him…"

"I am No One! Now do it!"

The ogre scrambled out of his seat and opened the door, practically running into it in his hurry.

Kurama had placed Hiei on the couch.

"George, get us a blanket would you? And maybe a robe?" Her voice was kinder when she spoke to the blue ogre that just came in the main door.

George nodded and jogged back out into the hallway.

Misaki sat with her eyes closed, concentrating on stopping her head from reeling.

"I brought bandages too, Misaki."

She looked up to see that George had put the blanket over Hiei and was coming towards her with a robe and bandages.

"I noticed that you were bleeding." He put the robe over her shoulders, "Should I send for Yukina?"

"No. She will be asleep now and there is no need to wake her up. I'll be fine."

George nodded as Misaki took the bandages from him and he went to stand by Koenma's desk, ready for action at a moments notice.

_"I can't believe his hair is still standing up." _Misaki over at the fire youkai. She resisted an urge to go over and touch it. But it was tempting.

The door the other ogre went through opened up the rest of the way, banging hard against the wall.

"WHO DARES WAKE ME UP!" In his pajamas, Koenma marched into the room angrily, demanding to know the perpetrator. "Oh. Misaki. It's you." He frowned up at the ogre who stood nervously by his side. "You didn't tell me it was her."

"Who else could get someone to wake you up?" Misaki wanted to know, her good hand now through the sleeve of the robe and the belt tied together.

Koenma saw Hiei on the couch, "What happened?"

"Amureo. As if that wasn't obvious."

Koenma grimaced, "We can't really do anything for him then…"

"That's what I was afraid of." Misaki frowned as they all glanced over at the dying fire youkai. _"Because I can't do anything either."_

* * *

-lotsm


	6. Amureo Arc:: Mission Improbable

A/N: My apologies for the lack of updates this week. To be honest, I've been playing a video game XD and just haven't gotten on to update. There probably won't be any more updates this week but who knows? The 'mostly dead' is in fact a reference to a movie. Can anyone guess which movie it is?

O/C5: Botan, Yukina, Kuwabara and Yusuke go home leaving Misaki, Hiei and Kurama at the Waters. Amureo starts to come through the barrier and both Hiei and Kurama are affected by his power and Hiei jumps in the water but Misaki holds Kurama back. Through a joint effort, Kurama and Misaki send Amureo back. They return to Koenma's office with Hiei and Koenma says he doesn't know what can be done for him…

* * *

"Misaki? … Are you alright?"

Misaki focused outward to see that Koenma was in front of her, staring up into her face.

She grimaced, the throb behind her eyes that had started a moment before becoming worse.

"Koenma, I'm terribly sorry but I fell asleep. I meant to tell you," Botan walked in, yawning a little, "Oh, you're back. How did it go?" she asked cheerily. She saw Hiei at the couch, "Hiei! He's-"

"Dead." George supplied.

"No. Actually I was going to say incapacitated. Besides. He's not all dead. He's only mostly dead."

George looked a little confused, "Mostly dead and all dead?"

"Yeah. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. See he's only mostly dead, which means he's still slightly alive. All dead and well...there's only one thing you can do..." she trailed off.

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

Misaki had to grin, despite the pain in her head which had gotten more annoying, "Go through their pockets and look for loose change."

"Will you two be serious?" Koenma said crossly. "I mean Hiei's life hangs in the balance and all you two can do is quote old movies."

Suddenly the pain slashed through her head and a disembodied voice tried to break through her mind to speak with her. It shrieked in pain and it's language was one Misaki couldn't understand.

Somebody said something to her, but over the noise, Misaki was unable to hear them. She dropped to her knees. Another rip of pain carved through her mind, a third felt like it scratched down her brain.

Coahtu appeared in a flash of flame.

"Get out." She ordered the others, her voice a steel command. Their presence would not be helpful.

Not really knowing quite what she did, Misaki stumbled over to Hiei. The bandana over his forehead had been slashed apart and the Jagan Eye was open and staring at her, watching her every move.

"_Stop it!" _She yelled into the noise but the howling just grew. _"I said stop!"_ She gathered all of the pain and shoved it from her mind, unleashing it back onto the Jagan.

A scream tore from Hiei's lips but the voice was not Hiei's, sounding distant and uncanny, and Misaki collapsed onto the floor in front of the couch.

...

"Get up! You are killing him!"

Misaki had brought up mental barriers around her mind, blocking out everything so that she did not register any of her senses. She only barely heard the voice which talked to her.

"Ansatsusha. Get up." The voice commanded her, the power behind it threatening and dangerous.

Misaki was forced to stand up just by the sheer power of the voice, swaying once before finding her balance. The voice still shrieked out of Hiei's mouth and his body convulsed.

"Undo what you have done, the Eye was only trying to alert you of what was happening. It is your fault that you did not heed its warning."

"I cannot help him." Misaki replied dazedly, her eyes staring at nothing.

"If you do not-"

"What? What do you have left to threaten me with, Lady of Fire?" Misaki spat, a wave of dizziness sweeping over her as she did so.

Coahtu crossed her arms, her face like stone and her eyes like fire. "Glean what afflicts him." She ordered again.

"You have no control over me."

Coahtu stepped closer, looming over Misaki. "You are weak. Have you truly lost so much power that you are unable to rid him of Amureo's pain? Have you become so human that you cannot even do this?"

The Jagan threatened to break through Misaki's mental shields but Coahtu's condescension held more sway over her than the Eye's pain.

"Human?" A surge of energy swept through Misaki's body as anger boiled to the surface, "You dare to suggest I am human?"

"You are. If you cannot help him." Coahtu glared and the air between them crackled with their emotions.

"Stand." Misaki turned back to Hiei and drew him up off of the couch by enveloping him in her energy and forcing him to rise. She meticulously drew her energy back into her body, cleansing Hiei of the pain. However, as she did not have anywhere to send said pain, it rushed into her body. Her vision blurred.

"Well done, Ansatsusha." She heard Coahtu say.

" _"Foolish woman." _" Someone nearby whispered in her ear and in her head at the same time.

...

"Put her down on the couch. You don't want to hold her up forever."

Hiei had Misaki by the shoulders so she wouldn't fall forward. He automatically obeyed the commanding voice without thinking about it, laying Misaki were he had been moments before. He couldn't quite remember what just happened.

"The Jagan will have blocked out what just happened," Coahtu said, not realizing she was answering his question, "Though your brain mostly did that. Self-defense mechanism from the trauma."

Hiei looked around. No one else was in the room.

"I sent them away." Coahtu covered Misaki with the blanket George laid on Hiei earlier. Misaki's eyes stared at the ceiling blindly and Coahtu noticed Hiei's questioning glance.

"She does not sleep and as a result cannot become unconscious. Be thankful that your own mind is at least able to grant you unconsciousness. You might wish to change. Your clothes will be in there." She indicated the door where everyone had gone to prepare for the mission that afternoon.

"Live or die?"

"Live. Barely. Your idiotic move did not help matters." She stated. "But to be fair, it was not you. Rather we owe thanks to Amureo for this incident."

Hiei let it go at that and left the room to change.

...

By the time he came back out, comfortably clothed, both Coahtu and Misaki were gone.

"Good riddance," he muttered aloud.

The Jagan Eye objected fiercely. So fiercely in fact that he winced. It rebuked him harshly, reminding him that she saved his life.

Hiei wasn't quite sure who 'she' was, Coahtu or Misaki.

He winced again as the eye told him, loudly. Misaki. 'She' rescued him from Amureo, 'she' saved his life.

"_Okay, okay. I get it."_ Hiei went outside and started running, the Jagan satisfied with his answer.

...

"Zumi, we've got some trouble."

"Coahtu? You know Mistress Misaki doesn't like you coming here."

"Zumi, this situation calls for drastic measures."

"Oh let me guess, Mistress showed up somewhere, Koenma found her, made her go on one of his ridiculous missions and Mistress got hurt."

"That pretty much sums it up Zumi."

Zumi sighed, "I thought so. She was in no condition to show up when she did. What can I do?"

"She needs something for pain."

"Mental, physical or spiritual?"

"I do not know."

"You are so helpful," He said sarcastically.

"Zumi," Coahtu's voice grew edgy.

"Touchie. Give her some ambrosia bread. That should take care of just about anything."

"And just where do you suggest I get this bread." Coahtu ground her teeth.

"And you think Mistress has issues," Zumi said flippantly. "Because, you know, she doesn't make that kind of bread or anything. I would certainly suggest it without hope of fulfilling it."

Coahtu remembered why she never objected to the Ansatsusha forbidding her from coming here, "Zumi get me some or I will fry you."

"Okay, alright. Take some. But only because Mistress needs it."

Her voice was almost kind as she fed Misaki, "Here Ansatsusha. Eat."

...

When Coahtu appeared in Koenma's office, she made everyone leave; Koenma went back to bed, so did Botan. Kurama went home, then to bed.

The next morning, Kurama couldn't stay away. He had a feeling that Hiei was alright, but what about Misaki? He hurried to the detective agency.

Koenma didn't even look up from the paperwork he had spread all over his desk.

"Koenma, where is Misaki? Is she alright?"

He finally noticed the kitsune standing by the door. "Oh! Kurama! Sorry. Stupid paperwork. I hate it. Um. I think Misaki is in her room."

Kurama thanked Koenma; he walked out of the office and turned to the left, remembering the path from when he fetched her the first day of her stay. After walking awhile, he reached her door and knocked, the door sliding open as his fist lightly rapped onto it. Coahtu stood in the frame, looking as if she was about to exit. Her steel-grey eyes were cold and emotionless, her hair flaming down her back.

"Yes?"

"Is Misaki here?"

Her eyes sized him up. "No." She answered after a moment.

"Is she okay?"

Before Coahtu could answer, Kurama heard a voice calling from down the hall.

"Kurama! Oh there you are! Koenma wants you in his office. He just got another mission," Botan came closer as she spotted him.

"I'll be right there." He turned back to excuse himself from Coahtu but the door was already closed and she was gone.

...

Koenma folded his hands on his desk, "Kurama. Good. I had hoped you hadn't left." He turned to them all to speak as Kurama and Botan walked into the room. "I have another mission for you. It's nothing big. A couple of youkai are smuggling some dangerous items into the Ningenkai. I need you to take them down and bring back the items."

"Um. Okay. Is that all?" Yusuke said, "It sounds easy."

Koenma shrugged.

"What about Misaki? Is she coming with us?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'm afraid not. Fighting Amureo would take its toll on anybody."

"Dealing with who?" Yusuke looked confused.

"Amureo. He's the guy the 'Waters of Amureo' are named after. He's the youkai Misaki sent back through the barrier last night," Botan explained.

"I can't believe she made us leave!" Kuwabara complained, "I heard there was an awesome fight! And I wasn't there!"

"Kuwabara, we were so tired we wouldn't have been any help at all! We might have even made matters worse." Yusuke told him.

Kurama agreed with Yusuke, though it was only to himself. Considering what happened, two more males would not have helped the situation.

"Misaki won't be joining you on this one." Koenma steered them back to the conversation.

"And just who decided that, might I ask."

Everyone turned to see Misaki leaning against the doorway.

"Misaki. You're alright." Kurama felt a little bit of relief.

"So it seems." She walked over to Koenma's desk and sat on top of it cross-legged, leaning over the paperwork as she sifted through it. "So what have we got here toddie, hm? What aren't you telling them?"

"Hey! Stop that," he swatted at her hand, "I just had those organized."

"Oh, but I know you love paperwork," She intentionally messed up the piles more while Koenma tried to fight her off.

As soon as he saw her, Hiei felt a little better. She was alive. The Jagan felt better too, it had been moping around in his head. Its sudden mood change made Hiei wonder if his own emotions were somehow influence by it. Nobody had told him it would do that.

Misaki finished rearranging Koenma's paperwork. "So when do we leave?"

"Right now. But there is no 'we' about it." he told her.

Misaki frowned, "And why not?"

"You're in no condition too."

"Says who?"

Both Kurama and Hiei got a good look in her eyes when she turned around. They were tired, drained. Hiei could literally feel her exhaustion through the Jagan for a moment, but then the feeling was gone though the look in her eyes remained. The Jagan made a noise of indignation. Reaching out through it, Hiei realized that they were being blocked, though he didn't put much effort behind the attempt.

_"So she __is__ powerful enough to keep us out."_

"There are few who can out thief me on my worst day." Misaki was saying.

"Just how good of a thief are you?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Please don't ask her that. You never know what she'll steal to prove she's the best." Koenma told him.

Misaki grinned devilishly and looked at Koenma.

"Oh. Oh. I hate that look. Please don't look at me like that. You know I hate it when you look at me like that." Koenma's face got worried.

"I just got a brilliant idea Koenma."

"Please tell me it has nothing to do with me."

"Oh it has everything to do with you. In two days, you'll find out how good of a thief I am."

"Great." Koenma grumbled. "Just leave the Vault alone this time, okay?"

She smiled sweetly, "If you don't want me to go with them toddie, I won't. I wouldn't want to spoil their fun. Besides, they don't need me to fight a group of class-A youkai."

"I didn't know class-A youkai had any interest in smuggling items into the Ningenkai." Kurama said. "They can't get through the barrier between worlds can they?"

"They can't unless they have other lower-class youkai working underneath them to get the items beyond it." The look on Misaki's face dropped and she turned suddenly to Koenma. "When did you find out about these smugglings?"

"Just this morning."

"What are the chances of Amureo being able to work that fast?"

Koenma hadn't thought of that possibility but he shook his head, "Impossible. There is no way he could have recovered in that short amount of time."

"And yet somehow he even managed to break free from the body he was banished to and almost make it back into the Makai. I would not use the word impossible."

"Why would this Amureo guy want these items?" Yusuke wanted to know.

"That is a very good question. If I'm on the right track, we could be in trouble. Koenma, what are these items? I suppose you have a list of them. You have a list of everything." Misaki began shuffling through his papers again.

"Err…um…"

Finding the one with their mission on it, Misaki began reading. "Smuggling blah blah blah, class-A blah blah blah, priority one blah blah blah…oh…" She got down to the items. "That's what I thought."

"What's what you thought?" Yusuke asked.

"If he is able to assemble the items, it will allow him to take over the body he is in and recover his S-class status." Misaki summed up. "That's not good." She looked at Koenma.

He shook his head. "No. It's not good."

"What I want to know is how they got into my stuff." Misaki made a face.

"Huh?" Kuwabara didn't understand that.

"Well, it takes a certain something to banish an S-class into a human body." Misaki began.

"To be specific, it takes a bit of powering down." Koenma added. "In the end, some artifacts were combined to create an energy-draining device that was then used on Amureo so that subduing him was possible."

"Afterwards, the items were broken up again and I took them for hiding."

"That plan obviously failed." Yusuke snorted.

"I would have hid them in the safest spot but that meant they would all be together. So they went in different places." She shrugged, "All of the good places are in the Makai which just happen to be far away from Amureo."

"Amureo must have remained in contact somehow with youkai in the Makai." Koenma mused, "I don't know why I didn't see that before."

"But how was he able too?" Misaki demanded, though no one knew the answer.

"What are we talking about again?" Kuwabara scratched his head.

"I believe that if you explained in full the situation, they might understand better." Kurama said.

"I suppose that would make sense. Here." Koenma pressed a button and the large screen came down. "Youkai Amureo."

A blue-skinned man appeared on the screen, looking very much like a genie with his poofy pants, bare feet and chest and his long lighter-blue hair in a ponytail on the top of his head.

"Affiliated with water, his powers are amplified when he is in or near it. He does not care for any male, seeing them all as something that could potentially stand in the way of him getting any woman he desires. He has perfected a method of killing men as a result, something complicated that has to do with his aura and attacking them mentally and physiologically. He only recently became an S-class youkai, within the last oh decade or so, and he began breaking out of the lower regions of the Makai, working his way upwards. His plan was to find a way into the Ningenkai and basically kill off all of the males and take all of the females for himself."

Botan took up the story from there. "We did not have very much time to retaliate but we managed to come up with an energy-draining device which would sap him of his power. It was a sort of one-use only idea, we'll never be able to create something like it again but it served its purpose. He was sapped almost completely of spirit energy and life energy and just for good measure we transferred him into a human body in the Ningenkai under special circumstances so that he would stay locked away forever."

"That's a brilliant idea. Just send the guy off packing to the realm he wanted to get to in the first place." Yusuke commented.

"In hind-sight, probably not our best idea." Koenma admitted, "But he was supposed to remain in that body until it died, upon which his soul would be sent here to the Reikai and we could take care of him properly then. It's extremely hard to kill an S-class youkai but we hoped that this method would work."

"I would assume that you placed him in a body that was about to die so he would immediately be sent here." Kurama said.

"That would have been the intelligent thing to do, yes. But not exact doable. Like with you and Yoko, a transfer of the spirit can only be done into a newly conceived child. And so that's what we did."

"So then what happened?" Kuwabara asked.

"The child grew up."

"Alright so what happened after that?" Yusuke specified.

"We watched the child, made sure that Amureo didn't somehow figure out a way to break free." Botan said.

"And yet it happened." Hiei spoke up.

"Yes…um…you see…we lost the human." Koenma said sheepishly.

"What? How can you just loose something like that?" Yusuke demanded.

"Don't know, eheh." Koenma chuckled nervously, "But nothing serious came of it so we left it alone."

"So for all we know, this guy could be rampaging around, killing people?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Oh no no no. We would know immediately if Amureo had returned to power. Especially since he is in the Ningenkai."

"These…items…if they are brought back together, will they return Amureo's power to him?" Kurama deduced.

"Most likely they will do just that." Koenma nodded seriously.

"Long story short, we need to go and get those items back." Misaki summed up.

"Why didn't you just destroy those items once you used them?" Yusuke pointed out.

"These artifacts are quite potent." Botan told them, "In the right hands, just a touch can be a death blow."

"We don't know what would have happened if we had destroyed them. The damage could have been vast." Koenma shuddered.

"Thus, they had to be hidden, away from hands that could use them so effectively." Misaki finished.

"What are we waiting for?" Kuwabara announced, "Let's go get kick some butt!"

* * *

Reviews make me smile!

-lotsm


	7. Amureo Arc:: Retrieving the Items

A/N: So... Hi thar! /waves ...Yup, it's me. Lotsm. 3 years later and I'm still alive and kicking. Didja miss me? _ _ Ahem. To sum up: Got discouraged with revisions. Life happened. I'm back. :D I don't really have any spare time...But I've been itching to start writing on this again. It'd be fun to get this published. Hey, it happens with Star Trek! My writing style currently is...aged passed the last 7 chapters (it's been 3 years after all) but upon rereading them, I'm keeping them the same because I am NOT starting this process over again. I hope that updates will be *fairly* regular, but I plan on doing one a day for a bit, then spreading them out a bit more. The more reviews I get, the faster the chapters will come out at that point. That's just kinda how it's gonna go. Having readers encourages the inspiration. Anywho, reread the first 6 chapters if you need to (...I had to and I wrote the darn thing) as they won't really take that long to do anyway. :) Lots of love to mah readers! Enjoy!

O/C6: Everything turns out alright but a Spirit Detective's work is never done. The very next day Koenma calls everyone in to send them on another mission: A-class youkai are smuggling dangerous items into the Ningenkai, ones that could restore the incapacitated Amureo to his full, and deadly, S-class power. The group is sent off to the location where the smuggling is occurring…

* * *

"Is this really the place?" Yusuke made a face.

The five of them stood in the middle of an abandoned house. In the living room to be exact.

Misaki walked over to the fireplace and ran a finger over the mantel. She scrutinized the dust and wiped it off on her pants. "They couldn't have picked a cleaner spot."

"But it's really dirty in here," Kuwabara spoke up.

Yusuke smacked Kuwabara.

"You baka that's just what she said!"

"No, she said it was clean."

"Quiet." Misaki waved a hand at them as she glanced around the room.

Hiei's eyes narrowed. Someone was watching them. He put a hand on the hilt of his katana.

Kurama flicked out his rose whip.

Misaki's ears were suddenly overpowered by many other heartbeats. Youkai ones specifically. "We're surrounded."

Everyone's eyes swept the room.

"Where? I don't see anyone," Kuwabara's head jerked around.

"Hm. They seem to have figured out how to use one of the artifacts. Smart little youkai."

"They're fools if they think invisibility will keep them from harm." Hiei drew his sword. "Cowards. We've found you. Come out."

Slowly, around the room, youkai began materializing out of thin air. Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Misaki all moved to stand back to back in a circle.

"Misaki Ansatsusha, how kind of you to come. I know someone who is dying to get his hands on you." said one who had a bandana over his mouth.

"Mm-hm. You have some things that don't belong to you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to get those back." She crossed her arms.

The youkai laughed and the others around him joined in, "There's a lot of us, and one of you."

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted, "You're talkin' to a Spirit Detective I'll have you know!"

"Yeah, two of them!" Kuwabara added.

"Like I said," the bandana-guy, they supposed he was the leader, spoke to Misaki, "There's a lot of us and one of you."

"Hiei, how fast are you?" Misaki asked him quietly.

There were over fifty youkai scattered all around them.

"There are too many of them Misaki. One of us could be dead before he killed them all." Kurama told her.

"I can't really trust that Kuwabara and Yusuke will be any good." Misaki sighed, a smile playing at her lips.

"I heard that!" Yusuke said, "I'm the best fighter I know! And Kuwabara's the second best!"

"Yeah well I'm the best fighter I know and Urameshi's the second best!"

The two of the started arguing back and forth.

"Enough! I will not be insulted any longer. Get them!" the bandana-clad leader yelled.

"Hold it." Misaki held up a hand. The numerous youkai who had lunged forward stopped in their tracks, curious. "You still have some things that belong to me."

"You mean this?" the leader pulled something out of his pocket and flicked his wrist towards Misaki. Something that looked similar to Kurama's rose whip, but a little thinner and quite a bit darker, wrapped itself around Misaki's arm.

"Yes, that's one of them." She grabbed a hold of it and jerked her arm down, causing the leader to stumble forward and lose his grip. It wrapped itself up her arm. "Now let me show you how it's really used." She held her hand towards the ceiling, fingers spread out. The black whip began glowing, dark electricity arching back and forth over its surface. Misaki brought her hand next to her opposite ear and then cracked the whip forward, her wrist snapping sharply to release it.

The whip wrapped itself around the leader, part of it still attached to Misaki's arm, and electrocuted him. Misaki sniffed the air.

"Not my favorite of the artifacts. The smell is distasteful."

"Oh that's really gross!" Yusuke covered his nose.

"Alright. We can go. We're done here. We just need the one. They can't restore Amureo without all of the items." Misaki retracted the whip and it slithered back around her arm. It moved like a snake, like it was alive. The leader fell over, burnt to a crisp.

"Um. What about them?" Kuwabara gestured to the other youkai, some glowered fiercely, others seemed not so sure not that their leader was gone.

"Hm?" She turned back, "Oh them. Yeah." Misaki was examining the whip as it slithered over her arm, "You aren't going to try anything, are yah boys?"

The 'boys' grinned evilly, nudging each other to get their courage up.

Misaki pulled something small out of her pocket. It was black and flat, like a coin, and about the size of one. She began flipping it into the air with her thumb, catching it back in her hand and then flipping it up again.

"Oh, I wouldn't look so incredibly pleased with yourselves. Without artifacts to fight with, I'm afraid your A-class status is greatly reduced."

They all reached into their pockets, and their faces suddenly changed into wide-eyed looks of fear.

"That's right. You're unarmed and rather weak now."

The youkai began to back off. But one yelled to rally his companions and lunged forward to strike at Misaki.

"Bad move," her eyes narrowed and she raised her arm again.

Before he knew he was dead, Kurama wrapped the youkai in his rose whip and Hiei slashed him through.

"My thanks."

"I had no desire to smell burnt youkai again. I don't believe any of these know about personal hygiene." Kurama said.

"Hey Yusuke, go ahead and take them out. Have some fun." Misaki smiled, knowing that both Yusuke and Kuwabara were itching for a fight.

"You are speaking my language." Yusuke grinned. He went for the first one and punched it in the face.

"Ah yeah! Time to kick some youkai butt!" Kuwabara shouted, flicking on his spirit sword and hacking through his own opponents.

Both Kurama and Hiei were a sight more graceful than the humans, Hiei stabbing this one and slicing that one, Kurama avoiding an attack and countering with his own.

An immediate brawl broke out as soon as Misaki spoke. Yusuke ducked under the next punch aimed for his head and kicked the attacking youkai into two of its companions, sending them flying backwards into the fireplace.

"Shot Gun!" Yusuke aimed his hand at a large horde of the youkai, numerous blue orbs shooting forth from his index finger. The youkai were immediately obliterated on contact with the spirit energy, black dust all that remained of them. Many of the bullets slammed into the wall of the living room, leaving behind black marks and in several places blasting through to the outside.

Hiei appeared momentarily beside Yusuke, a youkai hot on his heels. "Watch where you point that thing." He made a horizontal slice with his katana and the youkai was dead, Hiei disappearing again in a flash of speed.

"Yes, Yusuke. It would do us no good if your attack injured us." Kurama snapped his rose whip through three enemies in front of him.

"Heheh, sorry." Yusuke put a hand behind his head and grinned.

"Please try to pay closer attention." Kurama requested.

"Hey! I always pay close atten-" His words were interrupted as he was tackled to the ground by a youkai that came from his left.

"Fool." Hiei rapidly slit the five that had surrounded him.

Kurama shook his head, smiling a little.

Kuwabara went back and forth from using his spirit sword to punching his opponents' lights out. He cut a youkai running straight for him from head to torso, the two pieces falling away and another youkai jumping through the opening, aiming a dark boot for Kuwabara's chest. Kuwabara ducked that one but received another kick in the side of his head for his trouble from a second youkai that had been heading for him as the other did. He was jarred for a moment, holding his head with one hand and accidentally carving one of the youkai that attacked him.

Misaki, preferring not to fight at the moment and not minding others taking down her share of the enemies, sat down on the dusty couch and crossed her arms, putting the black coin-like object back into her pocket. She waited until only one youkai was left standing.

"Hey Yusuke, do you mind if I talk with that one before you pulverize him?"

Yusuke had the youkai held up by the collar and he shrugged, "You didn't get to have any fun at all. Go ahead and take him." He threw the youkai at her and it stumbled forward and fell before her where she sat on the couch.

"It was disappointing not to get to fight A-class. They might have proven to be a bigger challenge than these idiots." Hiei wiped the blood on his katana off onto the clothes of one of the fallen before he sheathed it.

"Especially if you were dead before you got to attack." Misaki said.

Both Kuwabara and Yusuke looked pleased with themselves.

"Man, that felt good." Yusuke rolled his shoulder, stretching it.

"Males," Misaki rolled her eyes. She sat on the edge of the couch and leaned forward, taking one finger and tipping up the last youkai's chin so that he had to look into her face. She smiled. "Your expression tells me you have a question. Ask."

He gulped and his eyes shifted about nervously, glancing at Kurama, Kuwabara, Yusuke and Hiei each in turn.

"Do not keep me waiting."

"Wh…who are you?"

"Your leader knew me. And I believe you know me as well but you don't want to think that it's true."

He gulped again.

Misaki's face became deceivingly kind, her smile looking like it could drip with sweet, succulent poison any minute, "Do I frighten you?"

"Why have you allied yourself with them?" The youkai blurted out, pointing at Yusuke and Kuwabara before cowering back.

Misaki answered after a second of pause. "Just to see that look on your face." Slowly she stood up, grabbing the youkai by his shirt and lifting him into the air. Her other hand rose until it was centimeters away from his jaw line and part of the whip began slithering onto his skin, circling his neck and resting there, constantly in movement.

"Tell them I have returned. Tell them I have returned with a vengeance. And I do not want to have to deal with petty conflicts. If I am forced to settle said conflicts, I will be very put out. Is this clear?"

The youkai nodded, though it was hard to make out as he was shaking so hard.

"I am told that these creatures called 'mothers' tell their children not to play with their food." Misaki pulled his face close to hers, "But I think it stirs the blood."

The youkai remained helpless, frozen by the reputation of her deeds and terrified of what he heard she could do to him. She took a sniff of the air, raising part of her lip in disgust.

"Bah. You would not taste good, maggot." She dropped him and he collapsed, struggling to get to his feet. "Leave."

The youkai's eyes darted around the room at the others to see if they would stop him.

"Leave now before they decide to kill you." Misaki added.

He scrambled out of the door and away from the house, tripping over himself as he did.

"Remind me to stay on your good side." Yusuke told her, a crooked smile on his face.

She waved a hand to dismiss his comment, "Ah, you don't have any real fear of me because you haven't heard what people think I've done. That one was shaking in his boots because of all the stuff he thought I might do to him. There are things worse than death you know."

"That's a very efficient way of doing things." Kurama noted.

"What is?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"You see, it is easier to build a reputation by threat and rumor than it is to actually go out and do things yourself. People will begin to make up their own stories after a while." Misaki shrugged.

"But what if you can't actually do what they've said you can?" Yusuke wondered.

"That's the beauty of it. They think you can and they won't come crawling to you with the question because they're afraid that you will if they ask."

"Would you really have eaten that guy?" Kuwabara made a face.

"Ugh. No. Gross. Youkai don't taste very good. Well. Most of them don't." She amended.

Kuwabara wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.

"Let's go. We're done here." She turned to leave the way they came.

...

"Oh man that was a great work out! I haven't done fighting like that in a long time!" Yusuke put his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now. I was feeling all pent up." Kuwabara agreed.

"Of course you felt pent up. We haven't had a mission in ages since and virtually nobody at school wants to fight us anymore." Yusuke said. "Though there are a few block-heads who'll keep on trying till the world ends."

Kuwabara and Yusuke were trailing behind a quietly arguing Kurama and Hiei who were a little ways behind Misaki.

Misaki insisted they head back to Koenma's to tell him they were done with the mission, despite the fact that Botan had appeared and told them she would let Koenma know.

"She must have retrieved all of the artifacts. Otherwise our enemies would have been much stronger than they were." Kurama pointed out.

"You only have her word for it. Do you see her carrying anything besides the most obvious one?" Hiei pointed at her back.

Kurama had to admit that besides the whip-like item which still shifted around her arm, he didn't see any other artifacts on her person.

"We fought over forty of those fools and supposing that they each had an item, where would she put them all?" He argued, crossing his arms.

Kurama tried not to think about it and quickly veered away from that subject, "Does your vehemence have anything to do with the fact that she has to be faster than you in order to steal back all of those items without your notice?"

Hiei didn't answer and Kurama took the silence as a 'yes'.

"I cannot read her thoughts anymore and I cannot use anymore strength when trying because then she would be alerted to my actions."

"And what about it? You weren't going to be able to catch random thoughts forever. She is a telepath. She was eventually going to remember to block you out."

"She will betray us." Hiei said darkly.

"Why on earth would she do that?"

"Give it a week. I believe that was as long as the toddler tricked her into promising. When the week is up, don't blame me when you wake up and find that you were killed in your sleep."

Neither of them spoke for a few steps.

"Hn, she probably had the items with her the whole time and then claimed to steal them back."

"But were would she put them all?" Kurama countered pleasantly.

Hiei ground his teeth.

"If it makes you feel any better, I would venture to guess that the black coin-shaped object that she pulled out of her pocket is some sort of storing device which called the artifacts out of the youkai's pockets and into the coin. They were distracted by her flipping the device into the air and they never saw that they had been neatly and efficiently disarmed."

"And why, pray tell, would that make me feel better, Kurama?"

"Because, Hiei, it means that she isn't faster than you, otherwise she would not have been forced to use such an item."

"Are you two talking about me?" Misaki appeared between them as they walked. She smiled at them both; Kurama smiled back but Hiei just ignored her.

Unfazed by the cold man she went on, "Usually when one is the subject of an argument, one has a tendency to be able to hear what is said. You really should take Kurama's word for it, Hiei. He was actually paying attention.

"Koenma had better still be in his office when we get there." She said absently, looking upwards, "He'll be unhappy with me if he misses out on the latest bit of news."

"What other news do we have to tell him?" Kurama wanted to know.

"Did I say news?" she looked thoughtful, "I guess telling him in person that there are a few less youkai in the world is news of some sort."

Kurama could tell that there was something else. Some other news. He filed it away mentally in the 'questions unanswered' part of his brain.

"Hey look. We're here." Misaki stopped.

"We're in the middle of an alleyway." Hiei scowled.

The rest of them stopped.

"Hey, what are we doing here?" Kuwabara looked around him.

"Oh. So, Koenma doesn't tell you a lot of things. I'm going to have to talk to him about this kind of stuff some time," She shook her head, "Anyway. There are several secret entrances into the detective agency, but you have to know where they are or be with someone who does."

"Like you." Kurama assumed.

"Yes. Like yours truly. Step in." She gestured at the wall.

"Step in where?" Yusuke made a face, "There's no door."

"On the contrary Yusuke, there is. You're not supposed to be able to see it. It's for quick passage and if everyone knew about it, then it wouldn't be a secret."

"I trust you, Misaki," Kuwabara said gallantly.

"Thanks. It's all the trust I need," She said dryly.

He stepped forward into the wall...and slammed his face in it...hard. His nose turned red.

"However, that was in fact just a wall. The door is over here." Her lips twitched with a smile as she walked through the correct part of the wall, followed by Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei.

"Ignorant fool." Hiei said as he stepped through.

"Half-pint." Kuwabara said back, holding his nose.

* * *

-lotsm


	8. Communal Arc:: Another Talk with Kurama

A/N: I'm hoping that nothing is too confusing. I'm told I am a confusing person rather often.

O/C7: They finish the mission, recovering all of the stolen artifacts and thus preventing Amureo from being returned to full power. Talk about anti-climactic. The group gets back to Koenma's office…

* * *

"Koenma's not here. I bet he's playing hookie." Yusuke was up at Koenma's desk, looking over the high piles of paperwork and into the empty chair where the Prince usually sat.

"I am not." Koenma opened the door, George in his wake with another stack of paperwork in his arms.

"Wow, toddie. When did you stop playing hookie?" Misaki crossed her arms.

"Be quiet you!" He tottered over to his desk, sighing as he hopped into the chair. "Ogre, move this stuff so that I can see."

"Yes Koenma-sir."

There was a moment of silence as George cleared the mess onto the floor so that Koenma was able to see.

"So, what have you got for me?"

"All of them." Misaki pulled the black coin out of her pocket and tossed it onto the desk.

"That's interesting." Koenma leaned forward and picked it up, holding it in to fingers as he examined it.

"A little something Zumi came up with a while back. You can destroy it, with the artifacts inside, with no danger of any repercussions. Sort of like a portable black hole of sorts. I've been meaning to go and collect the items for a while. Just, uh, never got around to it. I'm glad I was still carrying it around."

"Zumi? Never heard of him." Yusuke said.

"He's a…friend of mine. Very mechanically minded. A genius about this sort of thing."

"And what about that one?" Koenma nodded towards the whip slithering around her arm.

"I'll keep this one for a while. Nobody can get to it unless they remove my arm first."

"Ogre, take this to be destroyed. And make sure it gets destroyed."

"Yes, Koenma-sir." George held out his hand and Koenma dropped the coin into his awaiting palm. George left, holding the black coin delicately as if it might explode if he jarred it too much.

"Wait…how many artifacts were there?" Kuwabara was looking at the ceiling in deep thought.

"As many opponents as were fought." Misaki told him.

"But you only put that one little thing on the desk."

"…"

Kurama sighed, "Kuwabara, weren't you listening?"

"To what?"

"He was so deep in thought this whole time he probably missed it." Misaki shook her head.

"If that's everything, then you all are free to go. As you can see I have a lot to do." Koenma gestured towards the mounds of paperwork.

"No actually that isn't everything, Koenma. You and I need to have a long talk. Why aren't you telling your spirit detectives about the secret doors anymore?"

Kurama could tell that the 'long talk' was going to consist more of Misaki informing Koenma of whatever news she had to tell him than it was her lecturing him on what secrets he did and did not tell his spirit detectives. Kurama could also tell that it was going to be a private conversation.

"Go on. This is going to be long and lecture-like." Misaki waved everyone else away.

That was all she had to say to get Kuwabara and Yusuke edging for the door. Hiei didn't even argue about it as he turned to go, Kurama following behind.

Misaki closed the door behind the boys, waiting a moment until she was sure all of them had gone a good distance down the hall before sitting down in a chair, leaning back.

"You aren't here to talk about door secrets, are you?" Koenma rested his arms on his desk.

"You're decently perceptive for a toddler, you know?"

"I should be." He snorted, "I've had a few hundred years to work on it… Are you going to take that thing off?" He grimaced at the whip which made her arm appear like a rotating barber shop sign, except black and pale instead of red and white.

"I kind of like it." She admired it for a moment, "Maybe I'll make it into a fashion statement."

"Please don't." Koenma made a face, "It's bad enough that the one is in existence. I can't imagine if youkai suddenly started making copies once they see what it's capable of."

The two grew silent, Koenma waiting for her to say something else.

"I've been able to do a lot of thinking since the last time I saw you." She said finally. "Or rather, I was given a lot of time to think. I guess I never did tell you did I?"

"Tell me what?"

She closed her eyes, "I am not what I once was. When I left you, I felt old. I still do. Old and tired. And weak. I might even go so far as to say that I feel human. Very…very human. You did that." She opened one eye and looked at him.

"Me?"

Her eye closed again, "Not that I blame you for it. It's partly my fault, partly my fate. At the time, what you did was appropriate and I suppose I owe you some sort of thanks though I can't quite bring myself to actually say the words to your face."

Koenma flinched a bit, the memory of their last encounter rising to the surface of his thoughts.

"I don't plan on handing this over," she went on, waving the hand with the whip, "Because with it I have some sort of power. Which I am at a loss for. It enhances movement, makes spirit energy easier to channel and overall improves my current state, though each of these things are only improved in the slightest. The only reason I was able to stand up to the Spirit Detectives when you sent them my way was because of a barrier that I used to slow them down. I realized that even it was weak, a reflection of myself, when they only had a basic sort of trouble with it. Had Kurama not been with me when I faced Amureo, I would most likely have died. Or worse." She grimaced, thinking of things Amureo would have done when he found out she could not hold her own against him.

"The only reason you don't have youkai knocking down your door this minute is because of the silly little thing that is my reputation. No one knows that I cannot live up to what the ridiculous stories they've come up with say. This is a warning for you."

Koenma's frown had grown deeper while she talked, "Then we must make sure they do not find out."

"Easier said then done. On a lighter note, did you know that Hiei was a fire youkai?"

"Yes I…you don't think…"

"I am under a bet that I cannot kill any of the Spirit Detectives this week." Misaki said matter-of-factly, "However, if Hiei is in fact the one I have been looking for, the one who killed my brother, I will go after him before the week is out. I still know ways of keeping someone alive, hanging on by a mere shred of existence. There will not be much of him left when I am through but death would be too kind of an end for someone I have been waiting this long for. I will not lose the bet, he will not die. But I would not call it living by any stretch of the imagination."

"Are you finished with your personal vendetta speech now?"

Misaki opened her eyes and regarded the ceiling in thought before nodding slowly once, "Yes. I am." She looked at him, the first time their eyes met since she sat down, "Call it cliché if you like, Prince. I hear everyone is out for vengeance nowadays. However I have reason to believe that I invented the word."

"I would not doubt it, Misaki."

She stood up. "I am grateful for you lending your ear for a while."

"I thank you for your warning."

"I would heed my words, Prince." She turned to leave.

"I will, Ansatsusha."

...

Misaki returned to her room, feeling drained from the conversation and wishing to be alone for a while. But of course, things didn't always go as she liked them too.

"The door opened for me and I thought I might wait until your return."

Kurama was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, close to where the easel and painting stood. If he had known she would walk in looking as drained as she did, he would not have bothered her. But they were both here now and leaving would seem foolish.

"I'll admit that at first I did not entirely realize just who you were, Misaki Ansatsusha. Or should I say, The Ansatsusha. The first assassin."

The door slid shut behind Misaki, and not knowing what to do she remained in front of it, regarding Kurama cautiously.

"I take it you know a little about my past."

"I do. I have…remembered the stories. There was a massacre early in the existence of the world. Thousands of youkai who died. I am told you were responsible."

"The numbers are probably off. But yes, vessel. I was responsible. I am the Ansatsusha. What do you want of me?"

"What merit would you receive by killing Kuwabara or myself? Hiei or Yusuke?"

"Satisfaction, perhaps more so than merit. But yes, I would gain prestige. Though merit is less important to me than it is to other people."

"Really."

"You wouldn't believe how many youkai would love it if I killed off the Spirit Detectives. They hate Yusuke. And that hate is on you now as well, merely by association. Even if you wished to return to Yoko's old life, vessel, you would have a hard time doing so."

"And why would you receive satisfaction?"

"There is a possibility that your little fire youkai friend killed my brother."

"It is possible." Kurama agreed, "He has killed lots of people."

"But this was not a mere death. This was a torture. My brother burned for several days, completely conscious the entire time, until death finally took him from me. By that time my brother was so far gone that he did not even pass through the Reikai, for Koenma has no record of him. Nor is he residing in the realm of the dead, for I looked there myself.

"If you know as much about my past as you hint that you do, you will know that I disappeared for a long while before reappearing in the Makai once more, becoming a Spirit Detective years after that. I disappeared because I searched. Years I searched, decades, centuries even. And yet I still have no trace of the killer, no more of any lead than I did the day my brother died. I am still alive and the killer is still alive and I will never find him."

"Hiei did not kill your brother."

"You sound so sure of yourself."

"Hiei has not been alive long enough to have done so, if you are measuring time correctly."

"It is likely that I am not for I gave up counting a long time ago."

"You have heard of the forbidden child, have you not?"

Misaki nodded, unsure of what Kurama was driving at, "Yes. Yukina…I…"

Kurama could practically see the light bulb go on over her head. But then her eyes grew tired again. For a moment, Kurama felt almost sorry for her.

"Oh yes. I suppose I hadn't thought of that." _"Blinded once again by anger. And I even knew it was too much to hope for." _ "Yukina is much younger than the time that I spoke of. And Hiei too as a result."

"So you know of their relationship?"

"Siblings? Twins? Yes I know. I knew before the mother knew. I also know that Yukina does not know. And she will likely die without the knowledge, though she search earnestly until the end of the ages, and it makes me sad. There was a time when I could not imagine the world without my brother."

There was a banging on the door behind her before Kurama could ask what she meant by that.

"Ansatsusha, open this door right now." A steely voice called from the other side.

It was Coahtu.

"Go ahead and let yourself in."

"I cannot open it and you know this."

"I do. I didn't want you barging in on me." Misaki didn't turn to face the door. First she told Koenma everything. Then she had practically told Kurama everything she had told Koenma. She did not want to talk with Coahtu. She was tired and would have giving anything at that point to be able to just fall asleep for a good while.

"Let me in or I will burn this down and you shall not have a door at all."

Misaki took a step forward as the door suddenly heated up. Glancing over her shoulder, she witnessed the rapidly changing colors from the natural deep blue as the rest of the walls to a fiery red, waves of heat obviously shimmering around it.

"I can't let you in when you heat it up like that." Misaki retorted, keeping well away from the searing heat.

The door quickly cooled and Misaki opened it, Coahtu standing just on the other side, her steely eyes glaring forward.

"What do you want?"

"You're late for your session."

"I didn't know that you watching me while I fought computerized youkai in the training area was considered a session."

"If you truly wish to return to their world once more, I strongly suggest undergoing these sessions."

"Until you deem me worthy? I'm sorry to inform you that I have already returned to their world and there is nothing you can do about it."

Coahtu's eyes narrowed, "You will come to the training arena and you will be there in half a minute or I shall drag you down there myself." Coahtu briskly left, her feet tapping lightly on the floor as she walked away.

"How do you know that she did not kill your brother?" Kurama wanted to know.

Misaki turned sharply back to face Kurama, something vicious in her eyes, "Because she cannot kill, vessel." She spat the word out of her mouth, "I suggest you keep your pretty head out of places where it does not belong, lest you find your head not so pretty." Misaki stepped back from the door, giving Kurama a clear path out of the room.

Taking the hint gracefully, Kurama stepped away from the wall and moved forward, out of the room. Misaki stepped out into the hallway after he did, though he turned to the left and she right, the door silently closing behind them.

Misaki slowed as she reached the huge doors of the arena. Coahtu was just going inside them herself and Misaki hung back, silently counting to ten before following after.

"Twenty-nine seconds." Coahtu said as Misaki stepped through the doorway. "Don't think I haven't noticed your artifact. It just means that the methods in which you are to re-hone your skills will be at a much higher level."

Misaki did not answer as she made her way to the center of the room.

Coahtu disappeared as Misaki came closer, but her voice drifted down from somewhere above. "We are going to concentrate on mental prowess for now. You will start out with ten individuals, each of varying abilities and classes and you will control them. Your number will increase as time passes."

Ten youkai appeared.

"You might want to begin. I never said they weren't going to be hostile."

The ten youkai charged Misaki.

* * *

-lotsm


	9. Communal Arc:: Flee to Fight

A/N: Anybody play League of Legends? My friends got me into it recently... xD

O/C8: A lot of talking happens; Misaki talking to Koenma, Kurama talking to Misaki and Coahtu getting mad at Misaki and almost burning Misaki's room's door down. Coahtu makes Misaki come and re-hone her skills in the training arena. Ten different youkai appear and charge her…

* * *

Luckily, the highest level of these ten was one mere D-class. Misaki dodged to the left when they all charged her and opened her mind, engulfing their consciousnesses with hers. They halted in their tracks, blank looks on their faces as they relaxed where they stood.

"Ten more." Coahtu called.

Another ten appeared, half D-class and half C-class. Three of the C-class were telepaths and with Misaki's mind open and vulnerable, they attacked her with ease.

Misaki stumbled back, losing her grip on the original ten who immediately turned on her, rushing at her again.

The remaining two C-class caught her by the arms as the others flew towards her, holding her in place. Struggling against their grip, Misaki pulled her arms together in front of her body, jerking the Cs between her and the other would-be attackers.

They all scrambled into one another, allowing Misaki to free herself and leap back, only to be caught from behind where another pinned her arms against her back.

She ducked and a second youkai's leg contacted with the head of the one who held her. She was then tackled by a third youkai, who took her and her holder down to the ground. Instantly the others joined the pile, crushing her beneath them.

The three telepaths continued devastating her mind and while stuck, concentrating just on breathing, Misaki brought up mental barriers, blocking the C-classes out. Mind clearer, Misaki shook her head, expanding her lungs deliberately to receive oxygen.

Seeing no other choice, Misaki extended the whip, slithering it through the bodies around her. Closing her eyes she activated the artifact, electrocuting all those about her. The ashy remains of her opponents drifted to the ground, Misaki getting a good clogging breath of dust as the whip returned to its normal size. She sat up and heaved once before she opened her mouth for a breath, sneezing twice while trying to stand.

"I said control them, not destroy them. The number increased for your pains."

Misaki recognized the original twenty with ten more among their ranks when they reappeared, seven C-class and two B. One of the B class happened to be a telepath as well.

Remembering to keep her barriers up, Misaki enveloped the minds of the nine E-class, easily gaining control of them. She silently ordered these to attack the B-class telepath to take his attention away from her. But she still had the others to deal with.

...

Kurama was working his way through the halls of the agency when he heard the scuffle. Curious, he turned around and headed back.

...

The walls of Koenma's office shook.

"I just hope she doesn't break anything." Koenma sighed, a stack of papers near his elbow wavering dangerously.

"Uh, Koenma-sir…I'm not sure if that's coming from the training arena." George frowned.

"Of course it is, Ogre. Where else would it be coming from?"

...

Hiei felt the fight before he heard it. He hadn't left the agency entirely, wondering what was keeping Kurama. The Jagan alerted him to several telepaths in the agency and Hiei made his way to where the Jagan indicated.

...

"Ten more."

Misaki had gained control of the B class telepath when the E-classes distracted it, simply staying a good distance away from the others while she did so. Her barriers were enough to keep out the C-class telepaths and with the higher classed telepath under her power, she could force him to control the minds of his C brethren, who in turn could take care of the other lower class youkai.

This method allowed Misaki to only have to concentrate on the B telepath; much easier than trying to control them all at once. It also let her attention focus more on dodging while the transition of control was taking place.

But then the next ten that Coahtu called for appeared. Out of the ten youkai, eight were B, one was A and the last was S.

The S-class filled the room with his presence, looming high above the others, his enormous body reflecting his enormous power.

The A-class was a telepath and he lacerated through her tie with the B-class, throwing her back with the force of his blow.

Misaki skidded hard across the ground, flipping twice in the air before landing face down onto the floor. Her lower lip and nose bled and there were scuff marks on her arms and legs, little bits of her clothing missing around her knees and shoulders.

She struggled to push herself up, her hair falling and shadowing her face. Her arms shook from the effort and she almost collapsed again.

Misaki was forced back onto the floor when the hand of the S-class pressed onto her back, shoving her into the ground. The whip would not affect the S-class, Misaki knew, otherwise there would have been no hesitation on her part to use it.

Closing her eyes in pure exhaustion, Misaki wished again that she could just sleep.

A moment later the hand pinning her disappeared and she felt a sharp foot kick her side roughly, turning her over onto her back.

"Get up, Ansatsusha."

Struggling, Misaki eventually rose, swaying once before finding her feet, realizing that Coahtu was gone when she did so.

However, Kurama came into the room and she saw Hiei entering through one of the windows high in the arena, easily finding his way to the ground.

"What happened?" Kurama called as he came towards her.

Misaki didn't trust herself to walk just yet so she stayed where she was, wiping the back of her hand across her lip to get rid of the blood that trickled down her chin.

"Nothing important." She said when he was much closer.

Hiei came at her from the other side, regarding her condition with unreadable eyes.

There was a 'boom' and the arena shook. All three of them looked around, seeing dust falling from the ceiling.

The doors to the arena flew open and an ogre ran inside to the trio.

"Misaki Ansatsusha? And Kurama and Hiei as well." The ogre's face filled with relief when he saw them. "Koenma-sir needs to see you in his office right now. It's extremely urgent."

They nodded to him and the ogre turned tail and ran out, not even looking back once to see if they were following.

The arena shook again, a large piece of the ceiling falling directly for them.

Kurama and Hiei both dodged out of the way, but Misaki did not feel the strength to move as far as they. She hesitantly stepped about three feet to the left, turning her head away from the falling debris and covering her face with an arm.

The piece of ceiling impacted the ground with tremendous power, shaking the floor and causing Misaki to stumble before regaining her balance. When the debris began to clear, she made for the doors while coughing out the dust, jogging down the hall with Hiei and Kurama.

There were shouts of dismay and several dashing figures going either direction as the three ran. The agency shook to its foundations more times than they cared to count before they reached Koenma's office, going inside.

Tired, Misaki plopped down on the couch, covering her face with a hand to block out the light.

Kurama, Misaki and Hiei were the only ones in the room at the time but a few minutes later Yusuke and Kuwabara came rushing in just as Koenma came out one of the other doors in the office.

Four ogres with clipboards, glasses and a pencil tucked behind one ear hovered around Koenma as he toddled in the room.

"Good. You two made it. I wasn't sure if Botan would get to you in time."

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Kuwabara saw Misaki's scrapes: the dust that stayed in her hair and on her clothes and the holes in the knees of her pants. She ignored him.

There were more shouts and several dark figures ran by the door.

Koenma motioned to one of the ogres and it shut the door, stationing itself in front of it.

"We're having a bit of a problem." Koenma began.

"Hm, to put it lightly," One of the ogres cut in.

Koenma shot him a look, "The agency is under attack. Five of my employees have been found dead and several more are injured. We have reason to believe they are after you all as Spirit Detectives. You will need to go into hiding until we can clean this mess up."

"Hiding?" Misaki took her hand off of her face.

"We don't hide! We fight!" Kuwabara announced.

"So we turn like cowards and run just because someone has a death wish?" Hiei wanted to know.

"We've found the perfect spot for you to stay." An ogre said, rather proud of himself, for he was the one who thought of the place.

"Together? Won't that defeat the purpose if they find us?" Misaki pointed out.

"Not where we plan on sending you." Koenma said.

"And just where is that?" Misaki asked with disbelief.

"Your house." Koenma told her.

The room grew discomfortingly quiet.

Misaki chuckled after a moment, amusement clear on her face, "A human has never stepped foot inside my house. What makes you think that they'll be the first?" She gestured towards Kuwabara and Yusuke.

The room shook and everyone shifted their balance to keep from falling over.

Hiei definitely did not have any remote desire to be stuck somewhere with anybody for an indefinite amount of time. Koenma had better come up with something else. Fast. Like letting them stand up and fight whatever it was.

"Let them come." He said quietly, hoping that something would burst through the nearby wall that they could engage in battle. His hand strayed to the hilt of his katana, resting lightly upon it.

Koenma and Misaki looked at each other for a moment, something silent passing between them as Misaki read the situation in his head.

"Well if you had just said that in the first place." She sighed, pushing herself up off the couch.

"Said what in the first place? What's going on? How come we can't fight?" Kuwabara protested.

Hiei glanced over at Misaki, wishing she would continue to protest and not say what he thought she was going to say.

"My house. Sure."

There was a large gelatinous entity engulfing the agency, preventing any from exiting. Misaki had encountered it before and the only option was running and hoping it wouldn't follow. Its current mission consisted of finding the current Spirit Detectives and engulfing them. The engulfee could not fight it, could not destroy it. Face-to-face combat was not an option.

Koenma told the others this basic information, but Hiei was not convinced.

Misaki caught Hiei's eye, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

_"Don't even think about trying to get me to agree to this."_ His voice was irritated.

_ "Do you think I like this idea any more than you do? …This is not something that can be fought, either with strength or wits."_

_ "Everything has a weakness."_

_ "Yours must be bloodlust."_

_ "It's better than cowardice." _He snapped.

Misaki found herself blocked out of his mind. _"That's one way to get the last word." _She admitted to herself.

"You should leave. Quickly." There was a banging sound as if for emphasis that followed Koenma's words. The room about them groaned under some great weight. "Even if it does follow you, you will have a better chance at fighting it elsewhere."

"Koenma-sir, we need you." Another ogre stuck his head in the door.

"I'll take them. They'll get there." Misaki said when Koenma hesitated.

"Would you bet their lives on it?" He asked.

"Well we are, aren't we? As long as you still have that pendant…"

"Right here." Koenma opened one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a pendant attached to a looped piece of leather. One of the ogres handed it to Misaki as they all left.

"Come on. And keep up." Misaki went out the door, turning to the left and running down the hall, the guys close behind.

They dodged debris as they ran, occasionally jumping over bits of the ceiling that lay in the middle of the floor.

"What about Botan?" Yusuke asked after they ran for a minute or so.

"And Yukina?" Kuwabara added.

"Five people died, right?" Misaki called over her shoulder.

They were all talking loudly over the noise.

"Yeah..." Yusuke waited for her to go on.

"And several more are injured, right?"

"Yeah..." Kuwabara echoed.

She didn't say anything else.

"So what about it?"

"Botan is the Grim Reaper, Kuwabara." Yusuke said having remembered just after he asked, leaping right to avoid another piece of the ceiling as it fell.

The whole hallway began shaking.

"Oh! Botan's not very scary looking. So I forget. And Yukina is taking care of the ones that are injured, isn't she?" Kuwabara realized.

"Most likely." Misaki agreed, taking the next hall to the right.

It was a lot smaller than the other and they ran closer together, the hallway taking them down lower into the agency.

They reached a large door and went inside, Misaki closing it behind them.

The room was empty and dim and they could no longer feel the agency shaking. Misaki turned around.

"Stand fairly close together. If any of you gets left behind, I'll lose the bet. And your life, consequently." Misaki motioned them into a circle, putting the pendant in the middle at their feet.

It began glowing and a circle of white-gold light lit up, surrounding them.

The Jagan Eye began humming a low, resonant note in Hiei's head and continued its hum however hard Hiei tried to quiet it down.

Misaki stood with her eyes closed, palms open and facing down at the pendant. "Kuwabara, it helps if you aren't paying attention."

"I can't help it if I can see what you're doing," He whined.

"Then do help it or should I tell you that you don't have to be conscious in order for this to work. Or alive for that matter," she added as an afterthought.

"Then you'd lose your bet." Kurama pointed out.

"Shut up." she retorted irritably. "And Hiei, make the Jagan Eye be quiet, unless it wants to alert everyone within range of where we're going."

Hiei frowned as the Jagan's hum tapered. He did not know that others could hear what he heard.

The circle filled in, the glow brightening. The room faded around them into darkness. The floor also seemed to disappear beneath them but solid ground took its place almost immediately.

"Names please. And state your business." A voice said from somewhere in the darkness.

"It's me. I've come home Zumi."

Ah the elusive Zumi in his natural habitat. Sheesh I sound like some Discovery channel special.

* * *

-lotsm


	10. Communal Arc:: Saving Him Again

A/N: I honestly couldn't think of a name for this Arc. 'Communal' came to mind as our heroes will be spending time in close contact with one another this Arc i.e. being forced to migrate to Misaki's house. It won't be nearly as long as the Amureo Arc, which spans, what, seven chapters? This Arc is kind of an 'inbetween,' a placeholder for this and the next major part of the storyline. But I didn't particularly want to call it the 'Inbetween Arc.' Sounds kind of...intermission-ish, which is what it is, but I don't want it thought that the events are any less important. In fact, certain events within this Arc are what cause the next one to take place. I might end up changing the Arc title eventually, but nothing else came to mind at the time, so I'll stick with what I have for now. Input is welcome, though, and perhaps as we come to the end of it, a more appropriate name will come to mind.

Oh, and I use the word 'arc' because that is actually the word the anime uses for the different storylines that occur as the plot moves forward and since I am writing this in a similar fashion, I am using the same word. :)

O/C9: A gelatinous creature attacks the Spirit Detective Agency, engulfing it and wishing to gain control of the Spirit Detectives. As this being cannot be fought for it is immune to all types of attacks, Koenma sends Kuwabara, Kurama, Misaki, Hiei and Yusuke to Misaki's house for safe-keeping. Using a pendant to transport them there, the five of them arrive…

* * *

Lights flicked on, revealing an empty room much like the one they just left, but smaller with no door.

"Mistress Misaki. Welcome home. I see you have others accompanying you." The way Zumi pointed this it was with a suspicious voice, as if Misaki was perhaps being held captive.

"That's correct Zumi. They're with me."

"Alright then. What can I do for you?"

"Um...Misaki?" Kuwabara leaned down and whispered to her, "Why can't we see him?"

"That would be because Zumi isn't in the room. He's talking to us by using the intercom system set up throughout the house.

"Oh." Kuwabara stood back up but he kept looking around each time Zumi said something.

"Zumi, the agency is being attacked-"

"What a bother!"

"Yes. That one. It was engulfing the agency as we left and Koenma wished the current Spirit Detectives to be whisked away from the danger."

"Understandable, considering there's no way to fight the thing."

"That's why these are here." Misaki gestured to the other four.

"Misaki…can he see us?" Kuwabara whispered again.

"Yes Kuwabara. He pretty much knows everything that goes on inside this house. That's why I trust him with it."

"Thank you Mistress. It's nice to be appreciated." There was a smile in Zumi's voice.

"Don't let it go to your head." She told him, "That's why I don't say things like that often."

"Of course not. Now what actions would you like to be taken?"

Misaki grew thoughtful "Close off all the exits and entrances to the house. Full lockdown, no one comes or goes without my say-so."

"Got it."

"We'll stay in that room in the seventh hall."

"Okie-dokie. Anything else?"

"I don't think so."

"Alright." There was a clicking sound.

"Which room are we staying in?" Yusuke wondered just how big the house was.

"This one." Misaki looked around the room.

None of them had felt the change of scenery, Misaki included.

There was a door to their left, a good-sized window to their right, they stood in the middle and stacked in the corner was a pile of something they couldn't make out. Misaki went over and sifted through the stack.

"Here. Mats to sleep on. Pillows. Blankets." She threw each of those things at each person. The stack dwindled.

"What are these for?" Kuwabara asked, making a face. Why would they need these right now?

"Sleeping. It's what normal people do at two in the morning. Now go to bed."

The lights turned off.

"Two in the morning?" Kuwabara exclaimed into the darkness. It had only been just evening time when Botan called him to the agency.

"You didn't think our teleporting was instantaneous did you? It takes a while to travel a great distance. We were in limbo for quite a while. I suppose you should have thought it was instantaneous, actually. It was meant to seem instantaneous." Misaki admitted.

The silvery moonlight shone confidently through the window, confirming the time. Kuwabara's mind told him it was only early evening, but his body disagreed.

Blinking sleepily, he decided to obey his body and he began rolling out the mat onto the floor.

Misaki watched from the dark corner as they spread our their beds, relaxing a little when they didn't protest.

When she believed them all to be sound asleep, she moved towards the window, quietly opening it up.

"Zumi, I'm going out." she said quietly, "It's been a long time."

"I understand Mistress." he responded just as softly.

Misaki took a deep breath of the cool night air, climbing onto the sill, knees bent.

Before she jumped, she turned her head over her shoulder, "Oh and Zumi?"

"Yes Mistress?"

"Make sure nothing happens to them."

"Of course, Mistress."

Misaki leapt from the window, jumping from window sill to window sill as she found a path to the ground. Her foot slipped once and she fell briefly, catching the ledge as she passed it and dropping down easily to the window below her.

Eventually she made it to the ground and she began running. Her feet knew the trail through the forest, the rock to dodge, the rut to step over. She enjoyed the feeling of running for no reason.

She zigzagged through the trees, pausing when she reached the abrupt end of the woods. A few meters in front of her, a lake shone like the smoothest glass as the moon's rays reflected silver light onto it.

"I'm home." Misaki said, closing her eyes and listening to the breeze.

The trees around her rustled, almost as if in an ancient greeting.

Skirting the edge of the lake, Misaki ran on into the trees, taking another direction.

The sun was rising as she reached a cliff, sitting down and dangling her feet in mid-air. She took a deep breath of the air and smelt…no one. No one had been nearby; there was not any remnants of anyone visiting since last she was here.

The cliff was peaceful. Nothing moved. There was a beautiful view of the sunrise as well as the green sea that was more forest unfolding below her.

Not keeping track of time, Misaki suddenly jumped up when she remembered her guests. She hoped they were still asleep as she turned and ran back to the house. The possibility of Kuwabara and Yusuke still being asleep was higher than either of the youkai still being asleep. She ran faster.

Her house loomed in front of her and she took three steps up the side, grabbing a hold of one of the window sills and pulling herself up. She jumped a ways to her left for the next one, continuing this pattern until she came to the window she started from those few hours before.

"I'm sorry Master Hiei, but I simply cannot let you leave." Misaki heard Zumi's voice as she jumped onto the ledge and the window opened to let her back into the room.

"The house is in a full lockdown. No one can come of go without- Oh! Thank goodness! I'm so glad you have returned, Mistress Misaki! I can hardly keep this…this…youkai under control!"

Despite was Misaki assumed had been a heated argument between Hiei and Zumi, Kuwabara and Yusuke were still asleep as she had hoped. Kurama stood leaning against the wall, an amused look on his face.

Hiei glared first at Misaki, then at the ceiling where Zumi's voice came from. "She is allowed to wander by herself doing who knows what and I'm stuck inside this-"

"I was given explicit instructions and I follow orders when I am given them." Zumi interrupted Hiei before the fire youkai could finish, "She is the caretaker and owner of these lands. She can do as she wishes."

"Thank you, Zumi but that's quite enough." Misaki's voice was prim. "I didn't think the orders through and while I appreciate you so strictly sticking to my words, it would be foolish to attempt to stop Hiei if he truly wanted to leave. The house might be set on fire and I don't think you or I want that."

"Fifth Circle no! Nonono. That wouldn't do at all." The window, which had closed when Misaki entered the room, opened again.

Misaki nodded briskly in approval and walked over to where Yusuke lay on the ground, then over to Kuwabara.

"These two won't give you much trouble Zumi. Feed them upon their awakening."

"As you wish."

Hiei had left by this time and Misaki walked back over to the window, catching the briefest glimpse of him entering the trees. She stood, ready to jump down again but she paused and turned back to Kurama.

"If you'd like, you can explore the grounds, vessel. And you are welcome to wander around the house. Zumi will make sure you don't…" Her voice faded off.

"Make sure I don't go anywhere I'm not supposed to?" Kurama finished accurately for her, smiling.

Her lips twitched with a ghost of a smile. "Yes, I think he can manage that without botching it up."

"Well excuse me, Mistress." Zumi sounded indignant.

"Would it be possible for the 'caretaker' herself to give me an official tour?" Kurama's head tilted a little to the side in questioning.

"A tour with Zumi would be more 'official' than mine anymore." She shook her head, "He knows the place better than I do. I can't remember half the things in this old house."

"Thank you, Mistress Misaki. It is quite a feat to be able to keep up with all of your idiosyncrasies." He told her modestly.

Misaki snorted, "Just be sure and show him the-"

"I wouldn't dare, Mistress. I have always considered that your jurisdiction."

"At least something is. Make sure he doesn't-"

"I know, I know." Zumi interrupted again.

Misaki crouched a little as she looked down the side of the house, tracking her path mentally before she took it.

"Mistress!" Zumi exclaimed suddenly, "There's been a breach in sector twelve!"

Misaki stopped, her shoulders going rigid. "Have there been any other infiltrators since I've been gone?"

"A few, I must admit. On the outskirts. They weren't nearly this strong. It seems that Master Hiei has found his way into the middle of this one."

"Wonderful." Misaki said dryly, her feet leaving the sill as she hopped to the next one farther down.

"I wouldn't worry, Master Kurama." Zumi misinterpreted Kurama's movement to watch her leave as one of concern. "If you'd like, I can show you around. Or you can wander around on your own. I won't show you the gardens though. I'm not very good at it and Mistress has always enjoyed them."

Kurama nodded as he left the room, knowing Zumi could see the nod, stepping into a long hallway full of doors lining either side.

...

Misaki slowed to a jog, and then she stopped completely, something tugging at the rim of her awareness. She stepped through a nearby clump of bushes and saw it. A waterfall. A hot spring waterfall. It was quite large, but Misaki wasn't in the mood to take a swim. Especially with what was lumbering around the grounds.

Misaki took off again, grabbing a low branch and swinging herself up into the overhanging greenery, jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree.

She soon heard sounds of fighting and through the limbs ahead caught the glint of the risen sun on a sword. She alighted as lightly as she could on the nearest branch and crouched down, peeking through the crowning green leaves of the majestic forest denizen.

Hiei's katana flashed in the sunlight. He deftly took down three beasts in front of him and four more rose to take their place. He wasn't easily tired and four more fell. Seven more appeared. Seven more flashes and seven more beasts fell. Ten rose.

"I'm getting awfully tired of this." he said under his breath. The fire youkai had shucked his outer cloak off when the fighting started and it lay on the ground near one of the trees. His white shirt ruffled slightly in a breeze that picked up and he appreciated it for a moment before returning his blade's attention to his enemy.

"I have to agree," Misaki said to herself as she watched more rise to surrounded Hiei.

Her eyes scanned the trees and the ground. She couldn't see where they all were coming from. They had no coherent thoughts that she could read, not even the basic stuff like instincts, so there was no way she could tell what their next move would be. And the more Hiei struck them down, the more of them rose. That led her to believe that they were in fact regenerating, sort of like Hydra's heads. It also ticked her off. She'd been gone much to long if something like this could just waltz its way onto her property without so much as a by-your-leave.

After this one was taken care of, she would make a sweep of the grounds and then seal off all of the barriers; Zumi might be able to keep anything nasty out of the house but he had no power of what was outside.

She watched as Hiei continued to fight. He gracefully took down each beast that rose, but the numbers came to overwhelming proportions. Misaki knew he wanted no help. He hadn't asked for it. He had acknowledged her presence without even so much as a glance, a silent indication somehow passing between them.

Even with his speed, he hadn't been able to evade every attack and as the number of enemies grew larger, the amount of space to maneuver around in grew smaller. He took a couple of hits to his shoulder, but nothing that hampered with his ability to fight. But even a youkai can only take so much. He made one move too slow...

Misaki watched as the blow fell Hiei to the ground. That was it for her.

She said nothing as she landed on the ground and stood over Hiei. The beasts' attention immediately shifted from Hiei to her.

She led them a little ways away from Hiei, always staying out of reach of their claws and fangs. The only way to be rid of them was to take them all down at once. That's what Hiei's problem had been; no matter how fast he was, he could only slice through one opponent at a time and even as he sliced through a second moments after, the first was already reborn.

Misaki stopped her retreat, turned around and clapped her hands together. She interlaced her fingers and then straightened her arms out, finger still interlaced and palms facing outwards. Asking the woods around her for help, she concentrated on the center of each of the beasts, the center that caused them to regenerate like they did, and imagined them all exploding at them same time.

A wind picked up and rustled through the leaves of the trees. Misaki felt the ancient forest agree to assist her, as a welcome home present after her long absence.

BAM!

The beasts exploded all at once.

Wiping the gunk off herself, Misaki made her way back to Hiei.

He was standing, hurt, so she hung back in the trees. She watched his back as he limped over to his katana and picked it up, cleaning it off on the grass. Hiei collapsed into a cross-legged position as he stuck his katana point into the ground beside him. After a moment of rest, he stood back up and sheathed his katana.

The forest around her warned Misaki to listen. Her eyes darted around. A whirring noise. Far beyond where they stood but rapidly coming closer.

Something was coming. Fast. Four somethings. More things that dared to intrude on the lands Misaki protected. Whatever they were, they were closing in fast on Hiei's position.

Misaki ran forward, seeing that Hiei wasn't going anywhere quickly. A sharp buzzing tore through the nearby trees.

Intending to pull Hiei to the ground, Misaki grabbed him from behind.

Four huge blades ripped into the clearing.

Misaki requested that the forest heal Hiei's injuries as the blades tore across her back, her flesh tearing apart like silk beneath a sword.

The forest, unable to heal its caretaker for various reasons, agreed. Sparks formed in the air around Hiei's body as Misaki bit her lip to stop the scream even as the blades whirred back through the trees and disappeared.

"_Why do I keep saving him?" _Misaki thought as she collapsed, out before she hit the grass.

* * *

-lotsm


	11. Communal Arc:: A Life for a Life

A/N: /sigh. See the next chapters A/N for the reason behind my depression.

O/C10: Using the forest to help, Misaki rids her lands of a group of beasts that intruded, saving Hiei in the process. Another entity attacks him while he is weakened and Misaki protects him from it, taking the blow for him…

* * *

Hiei slowly returned to consciousness, feeling the soft grass against his chest. He remained on his stomach for a moment, eyes closed. The last thing he could remember was at least three broken ribs and excruciating pain. But it was gone.

He tried to get up, but something was lying on top of him.

What had happened? He suddenly recalled someone standing over him as he fell, the beasts being led away. He vaguely remembered standing to get his katana, cleaning it, sheathing it. Everything was black after that.

Hiei pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and whatever had been on his back slipped off onto the ground next to him. He looked over and was astonished to see the lifeless form of Misaki beside him. Well, at least her back.

She was face-down and he could see something soaking into her shirt. Blood. It was blood. He moved closer. Her shirt had been torn into what looked vaguely like a huge X, ranging all the way across her back. Underneath where the material was torn, her flesh had also been sliced into an X shape.

Hiei wanted to turn her over to see if she was still breathing but as he touched her shoulder, she sat up, shaking her head though still looking dizzy.

"Hn," Hiei began to stand.

Misaki rose tenderly, backing away from Hiei, her eyes not seeming to register his presence. She turned and stumbled into the forest, tripping and almost falling, leaning heavily on a tree before moving on.

Again she had saved his life. He did not think that in his previous condition that he would have survived with an attack like that scoring his back. He picked up his discarded cloak, clothed himself in it and followed her.

She moved slowly, stopping often to rest where she stood, but always moving forward. The blood dripping from her back left a blaring red trail on the grass.

Hiei shadowed her after donning his outer cloak, unsure of where the staggering Misaki was headed, but prepared to do something at any moment in exchange for her deed, even if he did not know what.

There was a spring up ahead, a hot spring, Hiei assumed, considering the fair amount of steam that rose from the water's surface.

He took a deep breath of the moist air and wondered why he was no longer injured.

There were no coherent thoughts in Misaki's mind, her whole being bent on making it to the water. Her breath was short and painful. She did not allow herself to collapse, to stop, knowing that there was a good possibility she would never rise.

A shock of pain surrounded her torso coupled with a wave of dizziness to her head and she clutched an arm to her side.

Making it up to her waist in the water, Misaki relaxed and her body fell forward, the water embracing and pulling her down into its depths.

Hiei watched from the nearby shoreline for a moment. With the Jagan's urging, it sensed that most of her brain activity stopped, he put his katana on top of a large nearby rock and moved closer to the edge of the water. A life for a life.

He dove in.

...

Kurama walked down the hall for a while. The doors lining either side all appeared similar to him but as he moved further down, he noticed a door with writing on it.

"A library?" He seemed impressed, easing open the entrance and stepping inside.

Low lights turned on, revealing rows and rows of books. Aisles of books. The entire room was filled with books, medium sized room though it was.

On a table near the door were unrolled scrolls, tablets and a few open books.

"Just the way Mistress left it." Zumi sighed, "She isn't the tidiest of people."

Kurama smiled as he perused up and down the collection. The smell of books was a familiar and comforting scent, but at the moment he wished to explore more of the house.

He left and began walking down the hall again.

"So what could be considered among the idiosyncrasies Misaki has?" Kurama felt that he might learn more about Misaki from this Zumi person than he could get Misaki to tell him face-to-face.

"She's an awful hoarder for one thing, Master Kurama."

Kurama imagined that Zumi rolled his eyes while saying it.

"A hoarder?" Kurama asked, hoping for more elaboration.

"Like a dragon. With a hoard. She takes everything and stows it away. I can protest all I want but she always counters with 'Zumi, I might need it later!'" He did a decent, though overdramatic, imitation of her voice, "I ought to get rid of the things she's forgotten about, or at least the stuff she hasn't used in the last millennia or so. But, then again, I suppose she'll never really run out of room if she keeps storing it all here."

"Never run out of room? Just how much room is there?"

"Enough." Zumi snorted.

"If she's a dragon with a hoard, then I would assume she has a pile of jewels hidden away she sleeps on." Kurama smiled.

Zumi chuckled, "Piles of jewels, yes. Sleeps on, no. She doesn't have a dragon's hard scales otherwise I'm sure she would try."

"Where would this hoard be?"

"Two doors down on your right."

Kurama's pace picked up a little.

Zumi was not lying when he said a 'pile' but a more accurate word would have 'mound'.

Immediately entranced at the state of the shiny mound reaching high towards the ceiling, Kurama reverently entered the room.

"Don't take anything. Don't try it at least. She would have your hide." Zumi warned.

Cautiously, Kurama picked up a golden goblet encrusted with various precious jewels and stared at his reflection in it.

"Um…Master Kurama? Master Kurama?" Zumi attempted to get the youkai's attention but met with no success.

Kurama's eyes were fixed on the goblet, all movement within his body seeming to have come to a halt.

"…You wouldn't happen to be related to Yoko Kurama the kitsune, would you? Oh dear. You just had to pick up that particular goblet, didn't you? Well I guess you won't be going anywhere for a while."

...

Misaki's muscles twitched as she sank down to the bottom of the pool. The water brought the open skin of the wound together as it healed her, but it was unable to prevent the long scars spanning as an X across her back that came as a result.

The warm spring was not deep but Misaki's loss of blood left her weak and the oddity of this water was that one sank pleasantly within it until reaching the stone bottom. Misaki slowly shut her eyes, holding no hope or strength within herself to push off and swim for the surface.

Her breath came out in small bubbles from her nose and the corners of her mouth.

_"You had better not die, foolish woman."_

The voice within her head caused her to stir.

_"Hiei?"_ He must have…followed her?

Eyes opening in slits, she saw a dark shape come closer, grabbing her waist and pulling her back to the surface.

Hiei took her to the shallows, bringing her far enough out of the water that she would not drown when he dropped her.

Misaki still felt the water around her, but she could breath and the ground was firm beneath her.

She sat up, facing the waterfall and blinking with disorientation. Strands of hair were watered down in front her face and she flipped them behind her shoulder with one hand.

"Hn. Watch it."

Misaki looked behind her to see Hiei perched on a good-sized rock, one leg stretched out over it almost touching the water and the other leg bent closer to his body, his katana resting against it and one arm on his knee.

She had accidentally sprayed him with droplets of water when she removed her hair from in front of her face.

Steam that wasn't coming from the spring rose off of him, his clothes, skin and hair quickly drying.

Misaki remained amazed as always that his hair stood straight up despite the water.

She faced the waterfall again and intentionally this time, Misaki flipped more of her hair behind her shoulder just to spite him.

Misaki had to dry off the old-fashioned way, though since she still hadn't moved from where she sat in the water, only her upper-half was actually getting dry.

A splash of water droplets fell on her head and she looked up, frowning at the clear sky, realizing only after a moment what had happened.

She turned and glared at Hiei who returned her gaze expressionlessly. However, fresh steam rose from his boot nearest to the water.

The hot spring had repaired not only the large slices in her back, but some smaller ones she accumulated from her training with Coahtu. As an added bonus, she found that her shirt had been mended as well.

Uncomfortably, Misaki felt as if Hiei's eyes were boring into her and she stood up.

No wait. That feeling wasn't coming from him. There was something else that had intruded on the lands.

_"Must be because I've come back."_ She thought ruefully. _"Great 'welcome home' present."_

Without the presence of any wind, the leaves of the trees began rustling as though a hard gust blew through them.

The whip, still rotating about her right arm, began throbbing awkwardly like a second pulse that tried to compete with her own.

Curious, Misaki held her arm up to her face, splaying her fingers out and shifting her arm this way and that.

The trees rustled harder.

"Okay, alright." Misaki mumbled. "I'm going."

Hiei had been watching her with semi-awareness while she sat almost perfectly still in the water, making sure she wasn't going to fall in again. He had trouble believing she was any sort of fighter. She oftentimes had her guard completely down, as was the case while he watched her, and as with the previous thought, he was still occasionally able to hear what she was thinking. Hiei frowned. He always had his guard up. He always had the Jagan prepared for the possibility that there was a telepath nearby. He…realized that she was gone.

...

Zumi couldn't believe he'd let the infamous kitsune into Misaki's treasure hoard. And of all the items the youkai could have picked up, he had to choose the Goblet of Entrancement. It was just Zumi's luck. He wasn't able to do anything, so he would have to wait until the Mistress came back.

Knowing that Kurama wouldn't be going anywhere, Zumi looked in on the room where the two humans lie sleeping.

He watched them with interest, having heard of humans but never seen one up this close and in the house nonetheless. Under different circumstances, they would not have set foot within Misaki's house.

Kuwabara stirred and sat up sleepily.

"Hey!...Urameshi! It wasn't just a dream!" Kuwabara whacked the motionless pile of bedding nearby.

"Nnn." Yusuke protested, sinking deeper under the blankets.

"Urameshi, wake up! We're in…wait…where are we? Is this Misaki's house? I can't remember!" Kuwabara looked frantically around the room, not seeing Kurama, Misaki or Hiei anywhere. "Oh no! What if they've got us! What if we've been kidnapped?"

"Kuwabara, do you ever shut up?" Yusuke's muffled voice asked from under his covers.

"The Great Kuwabara does not get kidnapped!"

"Uh, excuse me." Zumi thought this was a good time to interrupt before things went any further.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" Kuwabara jumped up, ready for a fight, "You can't kill us!"

"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Kuwabara's stomach growled loudly in the midst of his heroic pose and as if in response, so did Yusuke's.

"Would you like something to eat?" Zumi asked.

"Well at least they're going to be humane about it." Yusuke sat up immediately. "No starvation for me, thanks." His stomach gurgled again. "I could eat a horse at this point." He rubbed his mid-section.

"I could eat ten horses!" Kuwabara challenged.

"If you say so." Zumi's voice sounded like it would have been accompanied by a shrug.

Eleven horses appeared in the room and both Kuwabara and Yusuke were surprised.

"Hey, what is this?" Yusuke demanded, "I'd like some real, cooked food, please."

"But you said you could eat a horse. And he said he could eat ten." Zumi frowned, confused.

The pair of humans just gaped at the stamping horses.

"Okay. Fine. Here."

The horses disappeared, only to be replaced by actual food

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Yusuke launched himself towards the meal.

Zumi watched with mild interested as the two wolfed down the breakfast.

* * *

-lotsm


	12. Communal Arc:: Loss of Life and Limb

A/N: ARGH! Just realized that my scene/time breaks have not been showing up on at ALL. This is frustrating as it means I have to go back through however-many-some-odd chapters and figure out someway that ff will read a break besides just the really long thingy for a page. FRUSTRATION. -_-

Edit: I have now gone back and replaced all hash marks (-) with periods (...). For whatever reason, 6 periods end up being 3? Whatevs. It works. My time/scene shifts are now in place where they should be. /collapses from effort. I also found a place in this chapter where a sentence had been left out. Didn't matter too much because it's restated a line later, but if anyone notices any inconsistencies, do point them out! I appreciate it greatly! ^_^

O/C11: Misaki continues to cleanse the forest of intruders, Kurama gets entranced by a shiny, Kuwabara and Yusuke eat breakfast.

* * *

The rustling leaves led the way, creating a noisy path for Misaki to follow. As she jogged along, she grimaced, a sharp smell filling her nose. Burnt flesh.

Her arm continued to throb, more painfully now, and it drew tighter across her skin, the arm becoming numb from the lack of blood.

"Stop that!" Misaki shook the arm around in frustration.

The ground beneath her trembled and what she saw up ahead did not make her day.

A large dragon, an enormous dragon, whose head lifted far above the ancient forest around it, roared, something dripping from its mouth and skittering across the ground.

A shock went up Misaki's legs after one of the 'somethings' zipped towards her foot.

The electricity went up her body and began snapping around the whip, the motion of the artifact increasing as if the surge caused a boost.

Stomping a large paw into the ground before roaring again, the dragon brought several trees down.

"Tiamat, mother of dragons." Misaki said reverently at the size. This dragon wasn't Tiamat, but its size could have rivaled that of the fabled mother of the world herself. More trees were already crushed beneath its belly.

Unsure of what to do, but knowing that the ancient forest called for her help, Misaki began circling the beast, hoping to get an idea of something.

She didn't have time to think of anything. The whip around her arm snapped into the air, extending up over the dragon's shoulder.

Feeling it latch onto something, Misaki gave a cry of surprise when as she lifted into the air, landing on the dragon's back moments later.

The whip was embedded into the base of the dragon's neck, sparks of electricity arching up and down it, luckily not harming Misaki herself.

_"I suppose I never considered exactly where Koenma found this particular artifact." _Misaki grimaced. It was quite an excruciating mistake.

Grabbing her arm, Misaki cried out again, this time in pain, as the whip began assimilating into the dragon, pulling her forward as it returned to the being of which it had once been a part.

Misaki resisted only a second longer, feeling as if her arm would be yanked out of socket.

The dragon lifted its head into the air, a mass of lighting erupting from its mouth and lighting up the sky, cracking into and out of existence from deep within the dragon's throat.

Planting her feet into the dragon scales, Misaki tried to get the whip to slip off of her arm but to no avail. She continued being raked inward.

By this time, the dragon began to take notice of the going-ons and was tying to get a good look at whatever was on its back.

Misaki drew closer to the point where the whip entered the dragon flesh and found herself on her knees, one arm holding her other as the hand with the whip was planted against the scales, the whip somehow snaking literally into the dragon.

It still didn't come off of her arm, tugging so forcefully that it brought tears into Misaki's eyes.

Misaki's stomach lurched into her throat as her hand began sinking down beyond the scales, slowly taken into the beast.

She struggled harder, immediate pain engulfing her arm as soon as it got inside the dragon.

The inner fire of the dragon's body raged against her, the natural defense system attacking and attempting to break down the intrusion past its scaly armor.

The dragon roared angrily and more electricity began swooping over its body. Had Misaki not been protected by the whip, she would certainly have died instantly.

Her arm stopped sinking at the shoulder, the dragon beginning to do anything to remove her from its back.

Its head could not turn far enough back to reach her, and she was in just the right spot that its claws could not scrape her away, though they made a nasty sound against the scales. It tried to use its wings next but they weren't able to bend in the right direction.

It started shaking, trying to get her loose, then stopped and Misaki realized it was going to try and crush her by rolling on the ground.

Quickly gathering energy in her captive arm, Misaki shot a huge blast through the beast, severing its right leg from its body and sending it to the ground.

She gathered herself up in a ball as it fell, hoping it wouldn't land with her beneath it.

The dragon had fallen in such a way that Misaki was close enough to the ground to stand on her own two feet, able to comfortably twist her caught arm so that she could do so.

"Well, that didn't work as I hoped."She admitted out loud, wriggling her captive fingers around in the now open hole. The flesh around her shoulder gripped tighter than ever, attempting to heal itself.

The whip was one with the dragon, no longer existing but as one part of the whole beast, and Misaki saw no other choice. There was no way of blasting the area around her arm and breaking free unscathed. One thought continued to return to her mind. And it was not a pleasant one.

Misaki gave one last ditch effort at tugging her arm out, but it was a no go.

Gritting her teeth, she took her shoulder in her free hand and gathered energy into it this time. Closing her eyes, she blasted the limb from the rest of her body.

She fell onto the grass, blood pouring from the wound.

More electricity crackled around the dragon's body before incinerating it into ashes, leaving Misaki alone in the destructed clearing.

The scream Misaki loosed upon the air as she curled up on the ground sent birds flying startled into the air half a kilometer away. She clutched the bloody stump of what remained of her shoulder as tears poured from her eyes. Something else stirred within her: a carnal, base part of her being that reared its head as the rest of her brain began to shut down. She let out another guttural shriek as she lost control of her actions and the events of the next minutes.

Need. Desperate need. Whole. Must be whole. Something slipping away. Blood. Scream. Replace. Must. NOW.

An integral part of who Misaki was began to fade and in desperation her mind forced her to rise. Somehow, it sensed completion nearby and drove her forwards.

Standing up, Misaki stumbled over to where the dragon's severed limb lay on the ground. She knew not what she did, but grabbed the clawed appendage and something within her forced it to become her size.

Missing. Whole. Need.

Something stirred in the ashes behind her but Misaki did not see as her body firmly grasped the limb in her good hand and slammed it into her empty shoulder, the healing properties of the dragon still remaining and proceeding to attach tendons, bones, and nerves together.

Complete. Safe. Secure.

For a moment, nothing happened. Nothing was fading away, everything was fine.

Then it waverered…

...

Oh no.

No.

NO!

It was a misake. And a grave one at that. The foreign arm, scaly and clawed, contained the same natural defense system as the live dragon. It began battling her body internally and with each beat of her heart the venomous blood that had not bled out through its wound rushed through her veins, searing her from the inside out.

The arm slammed against the ground, suddenly heavy upon her shoulder, and Misaki fell with it. The pain erupted any of the senses she had remaining; her ears began ringing loudly and what was left of her vision clouded.

Suddenly Misaki snapped back into reality and began desperately clawing at the dragon's arm with her other hand, screaming adrenaline into her veins. Through eyes nearly clenched shut, she vaguely became aware of her own blood painting the dark scales a vicious red as her fingers bled from her efforts.

"While I applaud your efforts, I believe a straight-forward approach will be of more use to you." A voice spoke to her from beyond the ringing.

Misaki felt herself flung over, pinned to the ground, the arm clutching the dragon limb forcefully removed and pinned back as well.

Then the limb was ripped out.

It was only then that Misaki truly screamed an agony like none she had ever done before, nothing registering in her brain except for the pain.

The dragon's blood still pulsed within her, and had she been aware of anything at all, she would have felt herself being lifted off the ground. But the loss of blood was too great, and the animalistic part of her brain that had taken over fought a losing battle. All of a sudden, it gave up, heaving a great sigh of defeat and releasing that which it had attempted to save within her. As part of Misaki slipped away, so too did she, into a world that never before in her life had she ventured: unconsciousness.

...

Water. Warm. Comforting. Seeping healing in and…something out.

Misaki became aware of the water around her, embracing her once more.

She slowly, slowly, returned to the present, her body healing within the spring for the second time that day, the toxic dragon's blood forcibly removed and the internal and external damage repaired.

Eyes opened, nose breathed, and her face was the only thing not submerged in the spring.

A smell filled her nostrils so repugnantly that Misaki retched underwater and then sat up in great haste. The movement coupled with the disgusting odor caused her stomach muscles to clench and she emptied the contents of her belly into the spring between her knees. It was at this point that she found herself staring into something she did not expect.

The water was a greenish black, steadily permeating the spring from her position, and the steam rising from the waters beginning to give off a nauseous fume.

Again, Misaki brought her head forward and vomited, a burning sensation running up her esophagus as acid from her stomach was the only thing left in her system. It joined the already poisoned waters.

"I'm glad you're doing better, Ansatsusha."

The voice was familiar and Misaki looked over her shoulder.

Misaki recognized him immediately. Slicked back black hair, a light colored long-sleeved shirt and jeans... She talked with him at the Waters of Amureo.

His long lithe body was stretched out on its side watching her from the rock Hiei perched on earlier. How much earlier had that been? Misaki could not remember. Her thoughts were jumbled and unsure.

"I was lucky to stumble upon this place. You would not have survived much longer."

Misaki felt different somehow but she could not recollect just what exactly was different.

"What do you want?" Her voice was harsh and horse to her own ears and she swallowed, her throat raw and burning.

"What do I want? What does anyone want?" He countered lightly, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.

"How did you get here?" She ventured again, straining to maker herself heard.

"I came looking for you. Good thing for you I was around."

The trees would have told Misaki if another being had intruded on the lands.

"But how did you get here?" She repeated, certain that the trees would not have missed his presence. Certain of only this thing and nothing else. Her mind had slowed considerably and she latched upon this piece of information.

"Am I really here at all? Or am I a figment of your imagination, brought on by your weakened state?" His oddly colored eyes flashed their deep amethyst color, the obvious clue that he wasn't human, as he smiled a wickedly mysterious smile.

This man frustrated, yet intrigued Misaki at the same time. He oftentimes would answer one question with another; he gave her a question for every answer she came up with, like some walking version of Jeopardy. This had been the case at the Waters of Amureo and seemed to remain true.

"Then if you're just a hallucination, I'll ignore you." Misaki turned away. It did seem logical an explanation enough. She was grateful for his…assistance—though what that had been was not information her memory provided, all she could remember was a dragon…and lots of pain…—but the forest would not have failed her.

"Do you always talk to yourself, woman?" Hiei haughtily stepped into the clearing. The fire youkai was not happy. The forest seemed to be against his returning to the house and he was surprised when his path led him back here, as he had never dared to hope of finding it again.

Misaki whipped around, causing her stomach to churn in an unpleasant manner. The man was gone and Hiei stood leaning against a tree nearby.

He took a good look at her, gauging her condition. She noticed when his expression faltered and he glanced away, eyes scanning the other trees around him. They alighted on the murky spring water behind her and an eyebrow raised in question.

"Not quite sure what happened." She responded to his clear, silent query before continuing on, "I would bet you don't know the way back to the house, or you got yourself lost and somehow made it back here. I suppose that means I'll have to take you." She sighed, limping a bit as she stepped out of the water and into the trees. The task of escort was one she accepted willingly, as her mind still reeled from events she could not recall and it might keep her busy and away from the troubled feeling that something was horribly wrong.

Sullenly, he followed her.

Misaki's strength would not allow her to go more than a few meters before she was forced to rest, sagging heavily into a tree for a good while before moving on again.

"At this rate, we will not reach the house within the month." Hiei muttered crossly to no one in particular.

"If you think you'll have more luck finding it on your own, be my guest." Misaki found her voice after a moment of hard breathing, gesturing into the maze of trees around them before standing on her own and starting off again. _"So…tired…and he's right. We're still a long ways away."_

For a few feet, she noticed he wasn't following, guessing he ran off in impatience. Then, she felt herself lifted off of the ground, making a noise of protest in the midst of it.

"What are you dong?" Misaki's eyes narrowed and she glowered at him intensely. The hot spring had done much for her, but her body still held this continuous ache throughout.

His voice was irritated, and his red eyes returned her gaze only once, "I refuse to move at your snail's pace. Hold on." He ordered, taking off into the trees, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees as he ran.

"Put me down." Her glare was dangerous, her voice cold and over-articulating each word. "I am not one to be carried."

He ignored her, "Hold on, stupid female. I do not believe you wish to fall at this height."

Misaki saw the blur of leaves going by them and she instinctively put her arm around his neck, afraid he might decide to drop her intentionally just for spite.

"Hn, I need you to tell me which direction to go."

The emphasis of his words told her that he had in fact heard her thoughts.

It was Misaki's turn to be sullen as she felt forced to tell him the information he desired with no control over the situation.

He put her down when the house was in view, walking away and leaving her to her own devices.

...

"Mistress Misaki! Thank goodness you're back! I…" His voice trailed off. "…"

"What is with you people?" Misaki snapped, Zumi's reaction similar enough to Hiei averting his eyes to put her off.

"Well…um…Mistress…I didn't exactly realize that…Master Kurama was…in fact…"

"Spit it out, Zumi." Misaki said edgily.

"He-kind-of-picked-up-the-Goblet-of-Entrancement."

"…Say that again. And slower this time."

"I let Kurama see the hoard, didn't really think about it at the time, but he is Yoko Kurama isn't he? Or he was at least. And you see he walked in the room and what thing does he pick up? Not a crown or some gold, by all means no, he has to pick up the Goblet-"

"Of Entrancement." Misaki sighed, knowing the Goblet Zumi spoke of. "Which Kurama did you think he was, idiot?"

"Well…I just…didn't…"

"Never mind. Where is he?"

"Still in the room." Zumi's voice was quiet.

"Has Hiei returned? Are Kuwabara and Yusuke staying out of trouble?"

"Master Hiei arrived a bit before yourself and the other two are still eating breakfast currently." Zumi sounded impressed at the quantity the pair was capable of consuming when provided with the means.

"Make sure you keep them out of trouble." She demanded impatiently.

Zumi clicked away to check on them.

Immediately, Misaki let her body sag to the ground, falling to her knees and closing her eyes for one blessed moment. All she could think about was Coahtu's reaction to what Misaki now realized was a momentous situation: complete loss of an already greatly demoted strength, a need for sleep, and a thousand other sensations she for which she had no name. When Coahtu found out about this…and the name for the condition that was the only one Misaki could provide for herself…Misaki did not look forward to that meeting.

After gathering whatever remaining strength she had left, Misaki rose and took a step forward, the house shifting around her and placing her in the room Zumi wanted her to visit.

The red-haired Kurama still stood in the same place as when he picked up the Goblet.

Misaki could almost see Yoko's silver ears and tail twitching as she came up behind him.

"Vessel?"

He didn't answer.

"Vessel!"

There was no response.

Carefully Misaki extracted the Goblet from his grasp, prying his fingers off and throwing it back in the mound of treasure before she too became enthralled with it.

She waved a hand in front of his eyes but he still did not move.

"Zumi, take us to the inner gardens. Perhaps the colors will draw him out of it."

The room shifted and the two of them stood in the center of the house's gardens, various flowers and plants blooming beautifully around them.

"Vessel!" Misaki yelled into his ear, quickly grabbing her throat as she began to cough from the exertion.

He still didn't blink, didn't even flinch.

Misaki looked around in helplessness, unsure of what to do next.

She spied a lone rose bush nearby and picked a rose from it, managing to gracefully gouge herself in the finger. She put the injured digit in her mouth for a few seconds, holding the flower in Kurama's face after that.

She waved it back a forth a little, letting the smell waft into his nose.

Something stirred behind the emerald green of his eyes and Misaki took a little comfort in it.

"Oh, you have got to see this." She said, putting the rose in a vase of water close by and moving off.

Only after a step or two did she turn her eyes heavenward and go back to him, realizing he hadn't moved, grabbing his hand and pulling him along deeper into the garden with her.

As they walked, at a good pace, Misaki noticed he seemed to be at least a little more aware of his surroundings, his head turning this way and that as he began to register things around him.

"Alright. Here." Misaki dropped his hand and pointed to what she wished to show him. "This is something Zumi came up with."

The bush in front of them was akin to a rose bush, but one of a rich ebony color.

"It took a while for him to get just the right breeding done and as a result it only grows one flower every few millennia or so, vessel." She felt as though she was talking to herself. "This one's been around for a while and it'll die relatively soon. So, picking it isn't a bit deal."

Misaki reached within the prickly leaves to the middle, managing to scratch herself good this time, plucking the single rose that had thrived there for many dozens of centuries.

It was the purest white color, glowing softly with an inner light.

"It smells as pretty as it looks I'm told, but youkai are the only ones who can catch the true scent. Though I wouldn't expect them to enjoy it." Misaki amended. Not many youkai cared for nice-smelling things.

She waved this rose in his face too.

"It's beautiful." Kurama finally spoke, closing his eyes, "And it's smell is…" He took a deep breath again, his eyes opening and gazing at her, expression unreadable.

"Is…what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kurama's smile was mysterious.

"You aren't going to tell me, are you vessel?" Misaki knew this.

He didn't have to say anything.

She absently held the flower under her nose, thinking that she would have to tell Zumi not to let anyone into the hoard, or at least to put that Goblet away.

Misaki could not smell any scent the flower had. And she could basically smell anything. People even had a smell, though describing such a smell was rather difficult. Kurama smelled like…Kurama. And Yusuke smelled like…Yusuke. And while someone cannot catch their own scent, others can smell it.

Her hand lowered the flower and Misaki, frowning, took a quiet sniff of the air. Nothing. She sniffed experimentally again, the flower now at her side. She couldn't even smell Kurama. She couldn't fell his energy…couldn't feel his mind…and couldn't read his thoughts, try as she might. She suddenly felt very alone, shut off from the rest of the world. Yup. Coahtu was definitely not going to be happy.

All of these thoughts went through Misaki's head in an instant and Kurama caught the frown that passed over her features.

"Here. Take it." Misaki held the flower out as if it was poisoned. She had only plucked it with the intention of giving it to him, but now as a reminder of what she knew at the core of her being, she wished it to be far away.

Kurama scrutinized her face as he put the rose away for safe-keeping. There was something different about her… He paused in mid-thought, his eyes wandering over to her shoulder.

"Misaki, are you alright? What happened?" He came closer, resting a hand lightly on the top of her shoulder.

"I'm fine, why are you…" Misaki glanced over at his fingers, her eyes widening as she realized why everyone had been regarding her so oddly. She was missing an arm.

"ZUMI!" She shouted suddenly up at the ceiling.

Kurama drew back upon her outburst.

"…Yes Mistress?" Zumi's voice was timid.

"Why in the Nine Circles did you not say anything about this when I came inside?"

"Well, I just assumed that you-"

"Assume nothing!" She snapped, taking a step to the side.

She left a slightly bewildered Kurama behind as the house took her out of that room and into another.

...

The room was infinite, no light and yet one could see just fine, a heavy mist swirling around the floor. There were many such rooms in the mansion Zumi oversaw, rooms that awaited their full potential to be unlocked, to complete some need or another.

Misaki paced back and forth, a gamut of emotions roiling within her. She remembered. Everything. There were still fuzzy parts where something deep within her had taken over. A sort of survival instinct within which she had been unable to control her actions. But she understood it now. Knew what and why and…

"Unbelievable!" She finally exclaimed, Zumi watching her pace the room, worried about her state, both mental and physical.

"Simply astounding!" She threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "Exquisite. Marvelous! Absolutely wonderful!"

Zumi was not a master of sarcasm, but her words, he thought, were being used in such a manner.

"Mistress, I'm not quite sure I understand what all the fuss is about." Zumi noted confusedly.

"This loss of power…what I've become," She continued speaking but it was mostly to herself, "I understand. The dragon was out to get me. The whip conspired with it. But how could it have known? And the power…I lost it, but unchecked, unlocked, I don't want to think what might…" she couldn't finished that thought, "I don't have my arm. The whip…that…dragon! That dragon! The whip and the dragon…they somehow conspired together against me."

"Now Mistress, I think you're being a little paranoid."

"Paranoid? Paranoid!" Her voiced squeaked with indignation. Another flash of insight hit her and she almost screamed at it. "That guy…I don't even know his name. That guy with those purple eyes. He was that dragon. That black dragon. Yes. And the whip belonged to him…or something. Koenma didn't know. Couldn't. How could he have known? We don't even know…my arm…" She cast her eyes at the empty space where her arm should have been located. "My arm…" Her voice resounded within the room, an echo, though tiny. "I've lost…"

The mist swirled angrily about her feet, reacting to the unrestrained emotions emitting from her.

She stopped pacing and stared over at her shoulder and the nonexistent arm beneath it. She could still feel the tendons as she moved those fingers, still feel the flexing of the muscles as she raised and lowered it, but the arm was not there.

"Phantom limb…" She mumbled, frowning.

"What?"

Misaki didn't appear to have heard him, "I'm…I'm a…I'm…"

Her legs buckled underneath her. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She brought her remaining hand up to her face and lowered her head. The silence of the room grew deafening as she stared unblinkingly through her fingers at the space where her arm should have been.

"Uh oh."

Misaki's eyes turned toward the ceiling in a glare, all of her emotions quickly becoming twisted into one giant mass of anger, "I don't like 'uh oh', Zumi."

"Uh…yes…I…erm…I know you don't. But it appears as though…um…"

"Spit it out Zumi." Misaki's voice got quieter, a merciless rage building, simmering, near breaking point.

"Coahtu." Zumi's voice cringed as he waited for the explosion.

Misaki's jaw worked around the name though she did not say it aloud.

"She's…she's here."

All of Misaki's remaining muscles tensed and she deliberated forced them to bend to her will as she got up off of the ground.

"Do not let her in the house." Misaki ordered, walking forward.

Zumi shifted her surroundings to the front door. He knew Misaki better than anyone and was able to comply to her unspoken wishes.

Misaki put her hand on the handle of one of the giant doors that made up the entrance to the house. She paused.

"Zumi?" The questioning tone came softly from her lips.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Don't let any of them see this." The request was almost inaudible as she opened the door one-handed.

"Of course Mistress."

Light from the outside poured into the darkened entry way, Misaki a momentary one-armed silhouette just shy of the light before she stepped, blinking, outside.

* * *

-lotsm


	13. Communal Arc:: The Second Move

A/N: A-yup. Another chapter. Enjoy!

O/C12: Misaki loses an arm, to a dragon and something else undisclosed as of yet as well. Kurama becomes un-entranced and someone comes a'knockin' at the door and the visitor is none other than Coahtu herself.

* * *

"Misaki Ansatsusha, you deliberately…" Coahtu's angry voice trailed off, her arms which had been crossed over her chest moments before slipping out of their position.

Coahtu stood at the bottom of the twenty-some-odd stairs that led up to the porch and consequently doorway of the mansion. Her eyes widened at the sight of Misaki, or rather, at the sight of something missing from Misaki. And it wasn't just the absent arm.

"No…No!" Coahtu breathed, "Not now." She instantly knew the exact condition with which Misaki was stricken. Her hair wavered in the evening light as she took a step back, Misaki coming into full view of the darker colors of the evening.

The setting sun reminded Misaki that the next day happened to be when Kuwabara was going to find out just how good of a thief Misaki was. It was the only solace she found in the moment.

"Human creature." Coahtu spat onto the ground next to her, "You disgust me Ansatsusha."

Misaki grimaced at the word 'human,' her state of being thrown into her face.

"Defiled mortal," Coahtu went on heatedly, "You were needed at full strength when facing Amureo and yet you were not even at half-"

"You know the reason for that and you know to blame Koenma, not me." Misaki shot back at her with just as much force, angrily beginning to walk down the stairs towards he.

"There is no fault to be found other than with you. And now when you return to their world, the time when you will most need your strength for you will be sought as soon as it knows…Now there is now other word for you but 'human.'" The word almost stuck in Coahtu's lips. These were grave times indeed.

"Shut up, Coahtu." Misaki's eyes narrowed, coming to a halt not two inches from Coahtu's face.

"You have failed."

"I said shut up, Coahtu!"

"I will. I've had my say and I have nothing else too say." Coahtu turned coldly away and disappeared in a wave of fire.

Misaki's body trembled, half in rage, half in distress as images passed before her eyes.

The Detective Agency swallowed up…everyone trapped inside with no hope of escape…the man who stripped her of her-

"Poor mortal, Ansatsusha."

Misaki knew that voice. But it sounded…different this time… She slowly looked over her empty shoulder.

"Yes. Look at me with those eyes, that expression." His amethyst eyes were guarded as he took a step forward but a sixth sense rang sharply in Misaki's head, telling her to run.

"Mm. Mortal. Such a delicious word." He took another step towards her.

Where could she run? Nowhere fast.

Her gaze flickered towards the house doors. She could not outrun him. Even if she somehow managed to outrun him, she did not have the power to quickly close the door behind her. She was no match in speed, no match in strength and her mind had halted, all activity stopping.

Why did he seem so familiar to her? Tall and sinewy…slicked black hair… Similar in ways to Yusuke, yes, but this man did not remind her of Yusuke. She was drawn to him like she had been drawn to-

"Misaki?" A small, weak voice asked from around the corner as a figure came stumbling into view.

Both Misaki and the man saw Yukina clutching at the first stair, her clothes tattered, her face ashen, her hair in disarray.

_"Not good! Really really not good!" _Misaki scanned her surroundings a second time but was as unfruitful as she had been the first. Nothing. There was nothing.

"Excuse me, can we help you with something?"

Relief washed joyously over Misaki as she, the man, and Yukina all looked back at the entrance.

Four indistinct shapes were coming into view, still vague from the lack of light within the house.

Kurama was the one who spoke up and all four of them looked dangerous in the half-shadows as the dusk sun cast deep orange and red colors on their faces.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara exclaimed, breaking the suave entrance the guys had made. He bounded down the steps to her and she smiled gratefully at him as he gently supported her small frame.

Yukina smiled her thanks at the large red-haired human.

"What did you do to her?" Misaki asked treacherously before anyone else could say it.

The man didn't answer but his gaze strayed to Yukina and he looked uncertain himself.

"She asked you a question." Yusuke said quietly, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I did nothing to her." He said simply. "I can see you are otherwise occupied at the moment. I'll come back for you later." He disappeared as silently as he had appeared.

Misaki had an urge to punch the air he just left unoccupied, but she kept her fist at her side.

Misaki ran over to the slight Koorime and hovered over her and Kuwabara as he helped Yukina up the stairs.

"Misaki!" She breathed heavily, tripping forward on the last stair.

Kuwabara caught her and set her up straight as Misaki grasped for one of the young girl's hands.

There were scratches on the maiden's face, her kimono was ruined and she looked as if she had just come through a war zone.

"Let's get you inside." Misaki glanced nervously around the landscape as she ushered everyone inside, her body trembling again as she shut the door behind them.

...

Everyone waited impatiently as Yukina cleaned up, changing into another kimono identical to her usual one that Zumi, through Misaki, provided.

They all convened back in the room the guys slept in, sitting on the floor, Yukina as sitting as close as possible to Misaki, though not quite on her lap.

Misaki kept Yukina in front of her shoulder, thinking that the girl would keep attention away from the missing arm for the moment since everyone else was seating across from her while she talked.

"I was at the agency early this morning." She began, her voice confident but quiet, "The whole building shook suddenly and I heard screams from a nearby room. I ran for the screams, thinking that the shaking might have injured some of those inside but I must have gotten hit in the head or something because the next thing I knew, I was waking up with Botan and Koenma hovering over me. They seemed really worried but I was okay." Yukina added the last few words for Kuwabara's benefit as the young man's face was full of concern.

"Koenma said he hated to ask me to do a favor for him. He told me that within minutes, nobody would be able to get out of the agency, though no one could get out anyway because the largest portal they could create under the circumstances was very small. He couldn't leave the agency as his dad would get mad at him and Botan was too big for it, plus the fact that she would have to tend to the dead, seeing as how they couldn't be ferried across the river at that point.

"He told me I had been unconscious for a long while and I was relieved to learn that all of you were securely away already.

"The safest place for me to go, he said, was Misaki's house. Then the whole building shook and it sounded like something was hurling huge rocks at it. An ogre called Koenma away and Botan led me to another room, barely managing to open a portal there. The room began shifting underneath us and the floor cracked open. The bits of the ceiling broke away and fell, sharp pieces hitting us. A big piece started to break just above us and Botan shoved me in the portal."

Yukina paused for a breath and everyone wondered if the Styx Guide was alive.

"She must have opened the portal too high on accident because I fell through the trees. One branch caught me but then it snapped and I fell the rest of the way. I could see the house in the distance and so I made for it."

"That's interesting." Kurama had been regarding her thoughtfully ever since she started.

"You're okay though, aren't you Yukina? Nothing's hurt, right?"

"I'm fine, thank you Kazuma. Nothing's been broken."

Kuwabara got up and knelt in front of her. "I'm here to protect you. Don't worry about a thing."

Surprisingly, everyone was still too occupied with Yukina's story to make snide remarks about Kuwabara.

"Lady Misaki, I need to speak with you privately." Zumi's voice came out of the blue.

Misaki stood and the people around her shifted away as another more vacant room appeared around her.

"Mistress I…Lady Misaki?"

Misaki shook her head to clear it and looked up, "Hm?"

Zumi continued, "Mistress, you can't stay here any longer. Without…" He quickly tried to think of a way to put it delicately but he could think of none and just sighed, continuing, "You being human now and all, the house is under no obligation to protect anyone. If no one is inside, I can keep it safe but I cannot say what would happen if someone comes with intent for harm while everyone is still here."

Misaki echoed his sigh as she sank to the floor, suddenly tired.

"I…have a suggestion though." When Misaki did not disagree to hearing it he went on, "There is enough power left to create one last portal. It'll only be one-way though, I'm afraid."

...

"We can't stay here any longer." Misaki told the others when she returned. "It isn't safe. Zumi is creating a portal for us to the Ningenkai. We'll be better off there than here as long as the conditions at the Detective Agency remain the same."

She was extremely grateful that none of them said anything about her missing arm. She hoped they were too preoccupied to take note of it. Misaki was also glad that no one objected to Zumi's idea. It just made it that much easier.

"We'll get there in time for you to attend school tomorrow." She couldn't help but add, a half-smile on her face.

Yusuke groaned.

"Yukina, I suggest you stay with the rest of us for the time being. I can't offer you protection here. I can't offer any of you protection. Not here." _"Not anywhere. I don't even have the luxury of offering myself a shred of protection."_

"You have the capabilities to create a portal from the Makai to the Ningenkai?" Kurama asked in low-key wonderment.

"Against all logic, yes. But not I. The house." She indicated the house around them. _"Never tried it before. Always used the amulet. But that can only teleport to the Agency offices."_

Misaki removed all thoughts from her mind as she remembered Hiei's telepathic capabilities. His face remained stoic, only a small shift of his eyes in her direction letting her know that he had heard her thoughts and had been hearing her thoughts this whole time.

"Mistress, if you all are ready…"

"I believe so."

Everyone stood and the room shifted effortlessly into a huge dome-shaped room. A portal crackled in the middle of the room before them, arcs of energy moving across its surface.

"Zumi, don't let them follow until I know it's clear." She said just loud enough for Zumi to hear.

Ready for the worst, Misaki stepped through the portal.

The house around her was dark, though she could see the front door. There was a kitchen to her right, the open-area living room just to her left.

In fact she stood centimeters away from the low-set table facing to the left, the TV just beyond it. She silently thanked Zumi's careful calculations. Any closer and her calves would have been stuck in the table itself.

Misaki remained still in the darkness, all of her senses straining their limited capabilities to detect anything adverse in the environment.

She took off her shoes, placing them near the front door, long, vertical windows stretching down either side of the door frame. The window behind the TV had long curtains slightly parted in the middle.

Her feet sank into the carpet as she stepped away from the entrances, wiggling her toes in the softness.

There was a staircase almost directly in front of her, several meters away, that led to the second floor.

Everything seemed in order, nothing moving on the kitchen counters, the short dining table and refrigerator undisturbed, the door leading outside in the back of the kitchen still firmly in place and she so quietly made her way upstairs.

Rooms lined either side of the hallway and when she stood about three steps from the second floor, she knew everything was well.

"Alright Zumi." Her body, tensed from the exertion, relaxed as she went back down a couple of stairs and started turning lights on in the downstairs area.

One by one every appeared in relatively the same place Misaki had and then the portal was cut off at the other end.

"You all can stay here as long as you like, there are plenty of rooms and I'll be here. There's always food around."

"That is all you had to say, Misaki!" Yusuke whooped, pumping his fist into the air.

"Dude! Sleep-over!" Kuwabara yelled happily.

"I think that if we do plan on staying here tonight, we should let our families know where we'll be." Kurama pointed out politely.

"Eh. Mom won't care." Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"If you were a gentleman, you'd call her anyway and let her know where you're going to be. I'm going to call my sister." Kuwabara announced.

"Only because she'll beat you up if you don't." Yusuke shot back.

"Shut up, Urameshi!"

"Misaki, where is a phone that I can use?"

"In the kitchen." Misaki told Kurama, "On the counter next to the microwave."

Kurama and Kuwabara walked into the kitchen, dragging a still protesting Yusuke behind them.

"Yukina, let them know that while they can sleep down here if they want, there are mats in the closet." Miaki pointed to a closet in the living room area near the stairs, "But there are bed rooms up here as well."

Misaki forced her feet to climb back up the stairs and she could feel Hiei's eyes staring at her as she left.

* * *

-lostm


	14. Communal Arc:: Escorting Duty

A/N: Yes, I do realize that the floor plan of my house is not the standard for what a house in Japan actually looks like. There are a few key differences, but hey, Misaki isn't human and wouldn't know about these, right? Of course, right. So I'm not going to let it bother me any more.

O/C13: Misaki's house isn't safe for them any more and so Zumi transports the group to another house, this one in the Ningenkai. The guys decide to stay and have a sleep-over and Misaki goes upstairs to be alone…

* * *

With the humanness came human needs Misaki never experienced before.

There was a pang in her abdomen and her insides gurgled and churned. Her mouth suddenly itched for something Misaki did not know of and her shoulder socket ached steadily. But what was most foreign? The feeling of being unable to keep her eyes open.

Misaki had been tired before, yes, had desired sleep before, yes, but never had her body demanded the sleep as it did now.

She stumbled down the hallway, clutching for the door knob to a room and fumbling the door open. She made it past the threshold, closing the door behind her, but her body collapsed onto the floor just inside the room.

Only once during the night did the door open, someone standing in the doorway just for a moment before moving in, picking her up, and placing her on the bed she had so completely missed. Misaki did not so much as stir at the movement.

...

"Man! It's a Friday! Why do I have to go to school on Friday?" Yusuke put his arms behind his head as he walked, frowning up at the sky.

"Because!" Keiko informed him, "You haven't been at school all week!"

"Well I might as well not have come today either! Stupid teachers'll just shove all the school work on me today and make me waste a weekend doing it!"

"It's not like you're planning on doing it anyway." Kuwabara pointed out, shoving a hand in one of his pockets as he held his bag with his other hand behind his headd.

"Oh yes he will!" Keiko glared at Yusuke who just cringed away from her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He mumbled.

"I heard that, Yusuke! You will get your work done if I have to-"

"Do it yourself?" He finished hopefully.

She whacked him upside the head with her bag, "I would never do your work for you, Yusuke Urameshi." She stuck her nose up in the air and walked at a faster past.

"Hey! Keiko! Keiko come back! I didn't mean it! I know you wouldn't! Keiko!" Yusuke trotted to catch up with her.

...

"What happened, Misaki?" Yukina reached over to Misaki's shoulder.

Misaki flinched away, frowning.

Everyone else was gone for the day, leaving Misaki and Yukina by themselves. Yukina had just finished cooking lunch for them, the plates and things still on the table.

"It doesn't look so good. You should let me heal it up for you." Yukina said seriously.

"It's fine." Misaki grumbled, getting up abruptly.

It had been awkward eating, though only for Misaki. She would reach for her drink, only to find that she couldn't pick it up because she didn't have that hand anymore. Her mood had darkened more throughout the meal, especially when she began to get used to getting everything with one hand.

She began opening all of the drawers in the kitchen, searching for something.

Quietly, Yukina picked up the dishes to wash them.

Finding the junk drawer of the house, Misaki started fishing through it, finding what she was looking for at the bottom.

Shutting the drawer with her hip, she put the papers in her mouth and used her hand to vault over the rail of the stairs, landing shakily on the third step.

Misaki went inside the first room, snorting as she saw that the bed was made. She made a guess that Kurama was the one who had slept in it.

Opening the window shade to let in light, Misaki sat on the floor and leaned against the side of the bed, spreading the papers out onto the floor in front of her.

The words were written in shorthand and it took Misaki about an hour to remember what the shorthand meant.

In the middle of her reading, she suddenly looked up, having felt something touch her hair.

"I'm sorry. Am I bothering you?"

Misaki contorted her head around until she could see Yukina sitting cross-legged on the bed over her, Misaki's hair streaming across the Koorime's lap.

There were various sized braids and other weavings that Misaki found her hair was in.

Misaki was surprised she hadn't heard the girl come in, or felt her playing with her hair. She realized that she felt quite relaxed, sleepy even.

"What are you reading?"

"Uh…" She shook her head, "It's just a list of supplies around the house. Various things I've kept here." Glancing at the papers, she reached under the bed and pulled out a deck of cards, regarding it with amusement.

Yukina's eyes widened with delight, "Are those soul-ee-tear cards?"

"What?" Misaki raised an eyebrow, realizing after a second what Yukina meant. "Oh, you mean solitaire? Yeah, I guess so." She handed to deck to Yukina who promptly took it from her, holding it as if it was a prized possession, going downstairs and beginning to play in the middle of the floor.

Misaki's shoulder throbbed again and she rubbed it absently as she looked over the papers another time.

According to their information, if it was still correct, what she was looking for would be in the closet at the end of the upstairs hallway.

Misaki sighed as she stood, her sleeping feet protesting as she tried to walk.

There were many new sensations for her and she didn't think she had been missing out on any of them.

She knew sleep. She came to recognize the pangs in her abdomen as hunger; for now she was satiated but she could almost feel the food's energy being used up within her. When her mouth got that itchy feeling, she had to drink. And then there was the smell. And the gross feeling on her teeth. She had never had to use showers or bathtubs or toothbrushes before. In her current condition, Misaki was no better off than an average human.

Misaki ran her tongue over her teeth in disgust, gathering up the papers on the floor and marching to the hall closet. She hoped what she had in mind would work…

It took longer than she expected for find it, buried as deep in the bottom of the closet as it was.

A small jewel in Misaki's palm glinted sharply.

This jewel was a mind protection and amplification jewel, an ancient artifact, but one that ironically could only be used by humans. She had a tentative plan with it, and she hoped it would do what she needed it too.

Misaki put it in place behind her ear out of sight, feeling a slight sting as it sunk partway into her skin and connected with the nerves in her brain.

"What are you doing, woman?"

Misaki could feel the glare on her back.

She looked behind her to see suspicious crimson eyes glowering at her from down the hall.

"Nothing that concerns you." She responded with equal distemper.

Hiei's brow turned downward when he realized he couldn't hear what she was thinking any longer. He figured she must have remembered he was a telepath. Hn. He turned away in a silent huff.

...

Misaki spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the room she went into before, the sun coming through the window, changing colors as the sun set.

She remained perfectly still, gathering what little energy she had.

As she expected, everyone congregated at the house that evening, but thankfully no one came up to bother her.

In the midst of twilight, Misaki rose, opening the window up and jumping out, immediately rolling over her shoulder when she made contact with the ground to help absorb the impact.

Behind her ear, the jewel was warm with the stored power.

Tired just from that one jump, Misaki pulled herself together and raised her head to the darkened sky.

_"Siblings. I have need of you."_ She called silently. She could feel the vibration of her call echoing off from her thoughts in search of those she sought.

While Hiei did not hear her words exactly, he knew a telepathic summons when he heard one. The Jagan awoke inside his head, but he had been watching her most of the day to make sure she did not run off and leave them. He saw her leap from the window and had prepared himself to give chase. He wasn't prepared for the telepathic call and within his mind the Jagan reeled backwards from the power it had emanated, quickly recovering itself.

"Who did you call?" He did not trust her, would not let himself trust her.

He was standing just behind her, arms crossed, eyes smoldering as always.

"Why do you care?" She brushed past him.

Hiei ground his teeth together. She was a pain. A thorn in his side.

The Jagan wanted to know why he was still around then.

An image of Yukina flashed briefly in his mind's eye. He did not trust his sister's judgment of this woman, nor her easily trusting nature.

The Jagan sighed and went back to sleep.

...

Misaki was afraid that perhaps Coahtu had reached them all, talked to them, told them not to answer her. She needed their help…if nothing else she needed to see them. It had been so long…

As she walked to the back door, she saw lights on and something good-smelling wafting from the house.

Her stomach growled in protest from its lack of food.

"I'm sorry. I forgot." Misaki opened the door, walking into the kitchen.

"Forgot what?" Kurama asked inquisitively from where he stood with Yukina over the stove.

"Nothing." Misaki mumbled quickly, lowering her head and going upstairs. She saw that Kuwabara and Yusuke were busy in front of the TV and she took the steps two at a time.

She retreated to the room she stayed in the first night, looking back and making sure no one followed. Sighing as she shut the door, she turned to see someone stretched out on the bed, moonlight streaming in from the open window lighting the room.

"I didn't think anyone would come." Her relief was obvious.

The man got up moved across the room to her. He held her face gently in his hands and kissed her briefly in greeting before staring into her eyes for a long time, "Why would you think such a silly thing?"

"Well, I thought that maybe if Coahtu had-"

"Shush." His thumb went over her lips, "I didn't mean for you to answer that."

Misaki found herself caught up in a hug.

"I've missed you…" He whispered into her ear.

"Are you still upset that I was sent away?" She hugged him back, sad that it was only with the one arm.

"A little." His grip tightened, telling her more than 'a little'.

She coughed as her lungs felt crushed and he released her, holding her at arms length and staring into her eyes again. "So, what's the matter?"

"Nothing really. I'm just tired of the company I've been keeping so I decided-"

"Liar." He smiled fondly, interrupting her.

"…So…who all is coming?"

"Only everyone." He shrugged.

"Only." She grimaced.

He laughed.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Coahtu stays four meters away from you."

"Thanks so much." She replied dryly.

"What's the matter?" He repeated.

"I would have guessed that Coahtu told you."

"And what if she did?"

"You shouldn't have to hear it twice."

" 'Susha! Sweetie!" A light-stepping woman appeared in a wave of water and she tackled Misaki, embracing her in a fierce bear-hug. "You have to tell me what happened."

"Stefen!" Misaki pleaded with the man, her ribs crushed more than before. She cringed at the harsh bump her shoulder received.

"You know how she is." Stefen chuckled.

Coahtu appeared in a whirl of fire and the room got quiet, all eyes turning on her.

Her expression was emotionless until one eyebrow raised. "You called?"

The woman with a death grip on Misaki planted herself between Misaki and Coahtu.

"Do not look at me like that Aldeve." Coahtu snapped, "I have no petty quarrel with her and you know it."

Aldeve's grasp lessoned only fractionally.

"I did not expect you to come." Misaki's gaze matched Coahtu's.

Coahtu put a finger in her ear and rubbed it painfully. "Had I not come, that call would have rung in my head for centuries."

"Alright. We're all here now. Spill." Stefen went over and reclined on the bed.

"But Eldred…he's…"

"The Oracle?" Aldeve made a face, "Yes."

"I feel sorry for him." Misaki shuddered.

"He'll live." Stefen said impassively.

"Stefen!" Aldeve whacked his chest dramatically with the back of her hand, "You're so cold-hearted!"

"That's because he hasn't had to do it yet." Coahtu pointed out, "His time is coming."

"And I am not looking forward to it." He added.

"None of us do." Aldeve agreed.

They all looked back at Misaki at the same time, the conversation ending abruptly.

As much as she enjoyed their being there, she fruitlessly hoped that maybe they'd forget she was the one who called them and that they could all just have a nice reunion with tea and cakes.

"I assume Coahtu told you what happened."

"Assume nothing." Stefen told her. He and Aldeve looked at one another, "She really doesn't want to talk about it, does she?"

"I'm right here you know!" Misaki put her hands on her hips.

"Tell me, 'Susha." Aldeve pleaded, "I can take anything." Her eyes narrowed they moved over to her missing arm, "Especially if it's whoever did that to you."

"That's…part of it. Um. I'm sort of…human…now."

Aldeve gasped spectacularly, though everything she did was dramatic, and she hugged Misaki again. "Oh, you poor thing!" If she truly hadn't noticed as soon as she had seen Misaki, no one was able to tell.

"Stop that Aldeve, you'll just make her feel worse about it." Stefen frowned.

Aldeve ignored him, petting Misaki's head and hair in what she thought was a soothing manner.

Misaki's jaw clenched but she couldn't break free of Aldeve's grasp.

"By loss of your arm, your molecules, you have been reverted into a human." Coahtu summed up thoughtfully.

"What do you need us for?" Stefen wanted to know, "That seems pretty straight forward."

"How can you be so cruel?" Aldeve cried, clutching Misaki close.

Misaki hoped that those downstairs couldn't hear the commotion as she attempted to fight Aldeve off again.

" 'Susha, darling, I will do anything you need me to within my power." Aldeve vowed.

Misaki put her hand up to her face, remembering why she had missed Aldeve the least.

"I don't want to be stuck like this forever. I wanted to know if anything like this has ever happened before and what was done about it."

The other three exchanged glances.

Stefen slowly started to speak, "All of us know what the others know; we were all taught what has been true. And there has not been anything like this to happen. Though your case is especially remarkable."

"…There is one thing you could try." Coahtu said hesitantly.

They all looked at her.

"You're not going to like it."

"I don't see that I have a choice. I'll do anything."

"Go see the Oracle." She shrugged.

"Okay. So, maybe not 'anything.'" Misaki corrected.

"Eldred? He won't know any more than the rest of us." Stefen pointed out.

"Yes, technically she needs to go and see Eldred I suppose," Coahtu allowed, she raised her palms, "But you need to see the Oracle, not Eldred."

"That is an excellent idea." Stefen nodded his head after a moment.

"Only because you haven't been the Oracle yet!" Aldeve noted, "I wouldn't visit that place unless I had to be the Oracle. I get sick every time I think about it. It smells!"

"I cannot think of anything else. And I do not know if he will truly be of a help to you." Coahtu confessed.

"Looks like it's the only choice I have then." Misaki rubbed her shoulder as it started to hurt again.

All three of the others cocked their heads at the same time.

"…What?" Misaki felt like backing away from their gazes.

"She needs an arm." Stefen decided.

"I admit that I do find a certain displeasure in her appearance." Coahtu agreed.

"When do you not find displeasure in my appearance?" Misaki wanted to know.

Coahtu gave her a look but didn't say anything.

Stefen put his arms over Aldeve and Coahtu's shoulders, pulling them to him. "We could at least give her another arm, hm?"

Coahtu sighed irritably as her eyes rolled upwards when Aldeve clapped her hands with joy.

"Oh, we should! We should! Let's do it! It'll be good for us! I know I haven't done anything constructive in a long time!"

"Coahtu?" Stefen looked at her.

"I suppose it will not hurt anything."

Stefen put a hand in front of him, closing his eyes.

Aldeve placed her on top of his and Coahtu on top of that.

"Ancient Earth."

"Deep Water."

"Forgotten Fire."

The concentration on their faces was brutal and their hands began to glow, the area around their fingers pulsating.

In from the open window came a warm breeze that swept through their hair.

_"Wayward Wind."_

The glow began to take a shape, separating from them and floating above their hands.

Coahtu reached into the light and removed the still forming arm.

It heated up in her fingers, turning white hot.

Misaki's eyes widened when she realized just how they planned on attaching it.

"Um…wait a second. I don't think I like where this is going." She backed toward the door.

Stefen appeared behind her, one hand easily encircling her waist, the other clamping itself over her mouth. He grabbed her arm with the hand about her waist, pinning it to her side when she tried to pry him off.

Her struggles were in vain, Stefen just held her tighter, until she had to stop from overexertion.

Her eyes were wide and her breathing fast and heavy as Aldeve came around and pulled the tattered sleeve of her shirt back.

Coahtu grabbed Misaki's shoulder as she began struggling again.

"Stop it." Coahtu ordered, "It will be even less pleasant if we are forced to do this twice."

Every muscle in Misaki's body was strung tight.

Coahtu eased the muscles of the awaiting shoulder loose by warming them in her palm.

"I'm going to count to three, Ansatsusha."

Blood started dripping from Misaki's fist, so tight did she have it clenched together.

Coahtu held the new limb up, "One. Two." On two, Coahtu plunged the arm into the socket and it seared into Misaki's flesh. "Three."

Misaki's scream was muffled by Stefen's well-placed hand and this time she couldn't help her squirming.

Aldeve and Stefen managed to hold her still enough so that Coahtu could make sure the limb was attached correctly.

After what seemed like an eternal minute, Coahtu finished.

Misaki slumped in Stefen's arms and he just held her up.

She raised her head to look at Coahtu. "You…said…three…." Her chin collapsed onto her chest in exhaustion and Stefen could tell that she had gone unconscious.

"I think she needs to change out of these clothes." Aldeve scrunched her nose, indicated the smelly, and torn, clothes that Misaki wore.

"If so, her shoulder will need to be well-protected. That area of her body will be extremely sore for a while." Coahtu made one last check of the arm, making sure everything attached properly.

Stefen smiled wickedly, careful not to jostle Misaki's new limb, "I think something of yours would do nicely, Coahtu."

She considered it, unaware of his expression, "I do have something appropriate, I believe. Hakama pants. And a hitatare. Fire protected of course. And sturdier than average. Yes, that would be perfect."

"Do we know if anyone of consequence realizes her humanness?" Aldeve wondered.

Stefen's mood snapped to a serious one, "We are not to interfere if they have."

"I hate those rules." Aldeve stuck her tongue out.

"As do I. They do not seem necessary." Coahtu surprised them both by saying it.

"They never do. But I believe turmoil would be a bit of a problem if we did." Stefen changed subjects. "She'll need an escort to the Oracle, seeing as how we can't interfere for the most part. The way is a trial and she is in no condition to protect herself."

"She is allied with the current Spirit Detectives." Coahtu supplied.

"Really?" Stefen looked down at the woman in his arms in surprise, "I thought she gave up on that after… Who is the new one? The Urameshi kid?"

"That is him."

"Alright, you two." Aldeve butted in, all-business and motherly-like, "She has got to be cleaned up." Here she stared at Stefen.  
For a moment he was confused at her look. "What?"

She pointed towards the window as Coahtu took Misaki from him. "Out."

He still didn't get it.

"Out! Out out out!" She shoved him towards the window, "This is no place for the likes of you!"

"She'd never know I was here anyway." He protested.

"Stefen!" Aldeve expression looked aghast.

"I'm just kidding. I'm going." He leapt over the bed and out the window onto the tree that grew just outside the sill.

...

"I want to know where those awful scars came from." Aldeve was saying as she finished delicately adjusting the way the outfit hung on Misaki's shoulders. She had seen the X across Misaki's back, the scars standing out obviously.

"I don't know if she would tell you if you asked." Coahtu remarked.

"That's true. They're new though. I haven't ever seen them before."

"Do not concern yourself."

Coahtu and Aldeve, though mostly Aldeve, cleaned Misaki up, dressing her in the outfit Coahtu provided.

"Should we go tell the others they're going with her?" Stefen was leaning against the wall near the open window.

Aldeve shot Stefen an evil look.

"I was watching out there," He jerked his head towards the tree, "I saw when you finished."

"You pervert!" Aldeve slapped him across the face. "I'll bet you watched more than that!"

She pulled her other hand back but he caught her wrist, cringing as his cheek started to throb, "I was just kidding! Sheesh!"

Aldeve snatched her hand back, her face contorted into a deadly expression.

"Wow. If looks could kill…" He rubbed his jaw.

"You would be dead several times over." Coahtu finished for him. "I will inform the others of their duty."

"Aren't they already asleep?" Aldeve looked out the window, the moon having risen high in the sky.

"No. One because they're boys." Stefen began ticking off his fingers, "Two because it's only around ten o'clock. And three, sleeping people don't make that much noise."

They were quiet for a minute and angry voice drifted up from downstairs.

"Point well taken." Aldeve nodded.

Misaki was leaning against Coahtu, still asleep. The fire-woman looked a trifle uncomfortable.

Stefen picked Misaki up and put her in the bed, smiling as he moved some hair away from her mouth. The light coming in the window made the silver pieces glint and his smiled became a trifle sad for her.

Coahtu walked out of the room, stopping at the top of the staircase to find Hiei a few steps beneath her.

The noise had escalated momentarily. It seemed that Yusuke and Kuwabara were fighting, the latter loosing as always.

Hiei looked beyond the flame-haired woman to see two other figures towards the back of the hall. One was male, tall, green hair gathered at the base of his neck in a ponytail that hung just past his waist, shorter pieces spiking every direction around his head, clothing a nondescript brown kimono. The other, female, had dark blue hair, crystal-blue eyes, stood much shorter than the man next to her and winked at him as he looked over at her.

Hiei glanced at Coahtu but she took no notice of him.

"I thought I would give you warning. You're leaving."

"What if I don't want to leave?" Yusuke wanted to know, "I was just about ready for some sleep as soon as I finished beating Kuwabara's face in."

"Leaving?" Yukina asked.

"Tomorrow morning. You will be going to see the Oracle."

"On whose command?" Hiei narrowed his eyes.

"If you would like it to be an official mission, I could figure out some way of contacting Koenma about it." She answered him coolly.

"How kind." Kurama said dryly. "I suggest we get a good night's rest then."

"That would be wise. It is a long journey." Coahtu disappeared in a wave of flames.

Hiei watched in interest as the other two down the hall disappeared in a similar fashion, the man encircled with something deep brown and the woman in what was obviously water.

* * *

If you're wondering what 'hakama pants' and 'hitatare' outfit would look like, think Inuyasha. It's the type of clothing he has one.

-lotsm


	15. Oracle Arc:: Awkward Family Members

A/N: If you haven't noticed by now, I enjoy explaining things. It entertains me to make things match up and ironically makes me like Charles Dickens (I say ironically because when last I read anything of his I did not enjoy it). But it amuses me and keeps me entertained, so I do it. I know that it isn't action-y or adventure-y but explaining things is fun to me. And makes me rhyme, apparently. I promise I'll make the fighting all the more juicier when we come to it. Or I'll at least try my hardest. :p

O/C14: It's Friday and the guys decided to spend another night at Misaki's house in the Ningenkai. Meanwhile, Misaki has a discussion with Coahtu, Aldeve, and Stefen and they tell her to go and see the Oracle. They also fashion a new arm for her, the exertion of attaching it causing Misaki to fall unconscious once more. Coahtu informs the guys that they will be traveling to see the Oracle the next morning and says it would be wise for them to get some rest…

* * *

Misaki woke up a couple of hours later, blinking sleepily and knowing that she would fall back asleep within a few minutes.

She yawned and sat up anyway to stretch her arms, the sleeves of her new outfit falling back, yelping as her new arm shot a stab of pain into her shoulder.

Rubbing it gently, she grimaced, thankful for Coahtu's wardrobe gift, though rueful of the bright orange color, as the sleeves were nice and loose.

She sat cross-legged facing the window sill, it was still open from much earlier in the evening, and watched the memorizing tree sway in the wind. Her eyes began to close and she put her good arm down, laying her head on top of it, her newer elbow resting on the ledge, the forearm extending out the window into the cool air. A small breeze caressed her tender limb.

…

A dark shape easily leapt into the tree just outside of Misaki's window, settling down in the branches and watching over her.

…

Misaki awoke early as a bird perched near her ear and happily began singing the song of the wonderful new day that awaited it. Taking a swipe at it, Misaki bit her lip as her new arm flew through the air painfully, missing its target. She needed to start remembering to stop doing stuff like that.

The bird flew away, landing on a tree branch and continuing its song.

Misaki glared at it, but to no avail.

Carefully shutting the window with her good hand, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

Sighing, she got up and headed downstairs.

She quietly picked her way around the various sleeping bodies, reaching the front door without waking them up. The door didn't even make a noise as it swung inward.

Paying complete attention to not waking the sleeping ones, she almost ran into Hiei as she stepped out the door, stopping face to face with him.

His eyes were narrowed, arms crossed over his chest.

One of the bodies stirred and sat up.

"Leaving us behind, Misaki?" It was Kurama, instantly awakened by Hiei's telepathic alert.

Misaki silently cursed. Coahtu must have told them. Misaki thought she might be able to get away, but it seemed Coahtu had other plans.

"Apparently not." Misaki said ruefully.

Kurama went about waking the others, neither Misaki nor Hiei moving from their places on either side of the door.

…

It took a good while before Yusuke and Kuwabara were actually awake, though the group started out long before that. They were heading in a rough easterly direction.

"Just who is this oracle thingy and why do we have to go?" Yusuke put his arms behind his head, tromping along as he frowned up at the sky.

"And why do we have to walk?" Kuwabara complained.

It was mid-afternoon by this time.

Misaki walked ahead of the others, her arms hanging carefully at her sides. Yukina was at her elbow, a basket in her arms. Yusuke and Kuwabara walked behind the pair and Kurama and Hiei were in the back.

Misaki fought back the hunger that gnawed at her stomach. She had forgotten to grab something to eat before she tried to leave and thus they all filed out of the door with no food.

She also hoped she remembered how to get to the Oracle. It wasn't some place one went to for a casual retreat. They had to find that…what was it…yeah that one place. Then they had to…um…

A spike of excruciating pain blasted through her whole arm down to her fingertips as Yukina tugged on her sleeve and Misaki fought the cry of pain back, unable to hold in a small grunt of protest.

"Where are we going Misaki?"

"To see the Oracle." Misaki said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Does the oracle live in the city?" Her head cocked to the side in question and if Misaki's arm hadn't still been throbbing she would have thought it was pretty adorable.

Misaki stopped and looked around, having not especially paid attention to the direction she was headed.

"Um. No. No actually." Misaki got her bearings before starting off again, this time going the correct way.

"How is your arm doing?" A pleasantly concerned voice asked her.

Misaki saw that Yukina dropped back between Kuwabara and Yusuke, talking with them, and Hiei was gone, following them from above on the rooftops.

"I'm sorry. What?" Misaki glanced over to see Kurama walking next to her.

He turned his head towards her and smiled, "Your arm." He repeated.

Her eyebrow rose quizzically and he chuckled as he looked forward again.

"You're wearing clothing that is loose and covers both arms. You winced horribly when Yukina tugged on one of the sleeves. You have a new arm. You grew it, regenerated it, received it, whichever, but I believe the process would be painful no matter what the circumstances."

"As I have said before, vessel, you are much too smart for your own good. It'll get you killed one day."

"So, which was it?" He ignored her goading.

"I received it if you are speaking of my arm."

"From whom?"

"My siblings…" Misaki trailed off, wondering why she had a knack of telling him things she didn't really mean to tell him.

"You have relations?" Kurama seemed surprised.

"In a way." She replied evasively.

"But you don't like to talk about them."

"Does anyone enjoy speaking of the awkward family members they have?"

"I suppose not." He agreed.

"Not that kind of awkward." She shook her head. "You mistake my meaning. They are not in fact my family, we have no blood relation between us. Hence, 'awkward family members.'" Trying to explain her 'family' was like trying to explain why two plus two equaled four.

"I see." Kurama did see. There were ties deeper than blood.

He frowned. He felt as though he ought to know her better and was puzzled by this feeling. It was as if his brain knew her, but lost the remembrance of her, only an echo that he had once known left behind.

Kurama had also completely disregarded Hiei's previous notions of Misaki betraying them, and felt that it was quite possible the fiery little youkai was growing out of those notions as well, though Kurama was not for certain. From Kurama's perspective, Misaki gave no indication of having any need or desire to betray them, he personally thought it would require too much effort on her part, and even though the week of her bet with Koenma about not killing them began to draw to a close, through watching her he gathered no warnings towards her having an inclination to kill them after that time period anyway.

Privately, Kurama also did not see how she could currently be a threat to them. He could easily over-power her himself and if even just one of the other members of their team happened to be around, she would not prove a threat whatsoever.

"Is Coahtu your relation?"

It didn't surprise Misaki that he asked this question next.

"Yes." She answered after a moment.

"And are those two I saw last night your relations?"

Misaki frowned. "Which two?"

Kurama had seen Stefen and Aldeve standing at the end of the hallway. He had been in just the right spot downstairs to see back that far.

"There was a man. And a woman. One with green hair, the other blue."

"Oh. Those two. Yes. Stefen and Aldeve, respectively."

Kurama nodded.

Misaki stared at him for a while and finally, feeling a bit uncomfortable, he returned her gaze.

"What?"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

She supposed it wasn't as if she was telling him anything of consequence, but she just kept blurting things out when she would have rather kept her mouth shut.

"Nothing." She shook her head, looking away, "Never mind."

"They weren't youkai. They weren't human." Kurama mused out loud.

"Elements, vessel." Misaki provided, sighing after word shot out of her lips. At least it would make time past more quickly. "They are the embodiment of the elements. Stefen is earth, Aldeve is water-"

"And Coahtu is fire." Kurama caught on.

"Right." Misaki smiled a little.

"Embodiment…they have great control of the element? Like the Shinobi we fought in the Dark Tournament? Or something more?"

"'Or something more' is fairly accurate. But funny you should mention the Elemental Masters. I haven't thought about the descendants in a long time."

"The Shinobi are grandchildren of yours?"

"Mine, no. Ha." Her laugh was short and dry, "I suppose I have to start at the beginning." Misaki admitted. "There are four major elements: fire, wind, earth and water. These elements took on a human form close to the beginning of the world and became Elements: Coahtu, Eldred, Stefen and Aldeve. They bestowed the power of elemental control on various primitive youkai, the Elements were forbidden from interfering with humans, but the youkai were fairly dumb and didn't really understand, most of them killing themselves or others by accident. That's when Eldred and everyone took on apprentices, calling the smartest controllers of each element and training them to be, what you called, Shinobi. When they finally became Masters, they were ordered to take on their own apprentices and keep the tradition going. So the Elemental Masters you fought at the Dark Tournament are descendants of the original Shinobi and, as a byproduct, a sort of descendant of the Elements ultimately."

"And they aren't related to you."

"Correct. Though I was made god-mother of the apprentices because certain members of my family thought it would be funny." Misaki didn't mention exactly who thought it was funny.

"And you aren't pleased with that fact." Kurama noted.

Misaki shrugged, cringing again as her shoulder throbbed from the movement, "I guess I don't actually care."

Kurama looked up at the sky, thoughtful. "In a way, all youkai with elemental control are children of the Elements."

"I suppose you could think of it that way. They did make those youkai into what they are today. In an odd manner, they could be considered sons and daughters."

Kurama chuckled, "That would make Hiei Coahtu's son."

Misaki snorted but didn't say anything.

"And what of the element of metal? Is it not one of the major elements?"

"Ah, yes. Dear metal." Misaki grimaced, "Would you like the truth, my personal reservations, or what everyone knows?"

"All three if you wouldn't mind sharing."

"It seems that I don't." Misaki mumbled under her breath.

"Pardon?"

"The short version: metal didn't really want to take on a walking form. So, when it was coaxed out of its element, the coaxing failed. That's both the truth and what every one of the Elements knows."

"And your reservations?"

"The person who did the coaxing was the wrong one, but by the time the right one knew it, the formation or rather creation of new Elements was forbidden."

"Coahtu."

Misaki laughed, "You are truly brilliant, vessel."

Kurama allowed himself an indulgent chuckle, "I must have been accurate. Coahtu did not do the coaxing the first time. Fire would be able to morph metal, correct?"

"Indeed." Misaki still found herself smiling over at this strange being next to her, two spirits in one, though not nearly as wily and coercive as the notorious kitsune himself. He was much more…subdued. Recalling their encounters in the Makai, Misaki shook her head, still smiling, glad that he was not himself at the moment.

"You didn't mention ice." Kurama had been lost in his own thoughts for the moment, but turned to look at her with his next comment, "One of the Shinobi we faced happened to be the Ice Master. Touya was his name."

Misaki's eyes went blank. "Ice is one of the lesser elements, but the only one to take on a human-like form."

"He must have taken on an apprentice in that case."

Misaki nodded.

"And what about the Fire Master? And the Water Master? I do not think that merely being able to create mist is enough to put Bakken at the Master level."

"The apprentice of water was prevented from finished his training due to outside circumstances. The first Fire Master and nearly all of the subsequent apprentice/master connections were killed. Much of their knowledge was lost." She answered shortly.

Kurama noticed the obvious change in her expression, as well as the monotonous timbre of her voice and he did not pursue that line of questioning further.

The conversation started out as a pleasant one for Misaki, once she got past the fact that she somehow just answered anything Kurama asked. However, she didn't think he would ever bring up who he did. Ice. But Kurama didn't know it. He didn't do so on purpose.

…Ice…

She walked on in silence, eventually the city around them thinning out and a looming forest coming into view ahead of them.

Behind her, two stomachs growled fiercely.

"I'm so hungry." Kuwabara moaned, clutching his belly.

Misaki somehow felt better knowing that she wasn't the only one. "We'll stop once we're in the forest." There ought to be something in it they could kill.

"I don't see anyone carrying any food with them." Yusuke glanced around.

"And there aren't any fast food places in forests!" Kuwabara protested.

"There are now. They're trying to reach a different group of people." Misaki responded in an almost knee-jerk reaction of a fashion.

"Really?" Kuwabara scratched his head.

"Actually, I brought food with me." Yukina spoke up, indicating the basket in her arms.

"Oh, Yukina! You think of everything!" Kuwabara said nobly. "What do you have for us?" He lifted the edge of the cover, curious as to what was inside.

"Leave her alone." Misaki commanded.

Kuwabara snapped up at having been caught.

"I said we'll eat in the forest and we will. As soon as we get there. The faster you walk, the faster you eat."

"So technically…" Yusuke reached for the basket, intending to grab it and run for the forest.

"But…" Yukina protested, eyes wide.

BAM!

BAM!

Two large red marks appeared on Yusuke's face.

The whole group had halted by now, Misaki and Kurama turning around.

"You don't take stuff from girls!"

Kuwabara and Yusuke were glaring at one another.

"I'm hungry!" Yusuke shouted at him.

"I don't care!" Kuwabara yelled back.

Misaki saw that Hiei had reappeared and his eyes were smoldering dangerously at Yusuke.

"You gotta problem, three eyes?" Yusuke turned on Hiei.

"Try that little stunt again and you'll end up much worse."

"The one thing Kuwabara and Hiei can agree on…" Misaki shook her head.

"What?" Kurama thought she was speaking to him.

"Nothing. Yusuke, I suggest you keep your hands in check. If not, I believe the next time you try something like that, you'll find that you no longer have any hands."

Hiei glanced at Misaki, nodding slightly in approval. He would in fact cut Yusuke's hands off without so much as a hesitation, should the punk provoke his sister again.

Hiei did a double take as he caught an understanding behind Misaki's eyes as she turned to begin walking again. He stared after her, finding himself unable to threaten her telepathically about his sister as he was blocked out and deciding they would have a little talk as soon as he could get her alone.

* * *

Yeah. Wasn't kidding when I said I have a need to explain things. :D

-lotsm


	16. Oracle Arc:: Smelly Youkai

A/N: Onward to the Overview!

O/C15: The gang walks through a city, reaching a forest on the other side. Hiei realizes that Misaki knows who his sister is and since he can't threaten her telepathically, he plans on threatening her the first chance he gets…

* * *

Misaki kept her word and as soon as they were in the forest, she allowed Yukina to begin passing out the food.

"What did you bring, Yukina?" Misaki asked curiously, leaning against a nearby tree.

"Well, I found bread in the cabinets and so I thought last night that it would be a good idea to pack us some."

"And you remembered eating it before and wanted to have some more." A ghost of a smile twitched on Misaki's lips.

The maiden blushed a little as she handed out the food. "I hope everyone likes what I got them." She said quickly.

Yusuke accepted the small loaf she gave him, scrutinizing it.

"Why's everybody's a different color?" Kuwabara demanded, comparing his with Yusuke's next to him.

His and Yusuke's were something akin to 'wheat' and 'white' respectively, Yukina's was an odd shade of blue, Kurama's a deep amber color, Hiei's was pink and Misaki moved closer to pick out something she had heard Kuwabara call 'white bread' when he was in her house.

"Because no one has the same tastes." Misaki said, taking a bite. "Oh, just try it Hiei, it isn't going to bite your head off."

Despite the fact that Yukina had handed it to him, he still held it at arm's length. Kurama elbowed him and he pulled it closer to his face, inspecting it as though it were poisoned.

Yukina was quietly starting her second piece already, "It's fire bread, Hiei."

"What kind do you have, Yukina?" Kurama asked kindly.

"Ice. Ice bread." She nibbled on it.

"Ice bread?" Hiei scoffed.

"Ice Maiden equals ice bread. Try yours Hiei. I bet you can't look me in the eyes and tell me it's disgusting." Misaki took another bite of the foreign tasting white bread, feeling as though it had no nutritious value whatsoever but unable to stop herself from munching.

Feeling challenged, Hiei tore off a piece and stuck it in his mouth, defiantly glaring at her. He dropped his gaze after a moment, tearing off another piece.

"And what kind do I have?" Kurama asked the girl.

"Ambrosia." Was the response.

"So what did we get?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Um." She looked sheepish, "I can't remember."

"Well it's good anyway!" Yusuke replied.

The group fell silent, each one eating their bread. Eventually it was all gone.

The trees were close enough together that each of them had their backs against one.

Yusuke leaned into his, sighing contentedly and closing his eyes, about to snore.

"Don't even go there." Misaki stood up, brushing off the stray pieces from her pants and cringing as she overextended her bad arm. "We're not sleeping yet. Does it look like nighttime to you? Get up. We have much too far to travel for you to take a nap for your lazy butt."

Yusuke stood reluctantly as Misaki started off into the trees.

"What should we do with the basket?" Kuwabara looked around for it.

"What basket?" Misaki turned back. "I don't see any basket."

They all knew that Yukina had been carrying a basket but it was no where to be seen.

"Probably some forest creature carried it off," Misaki said flippantly, continuing onward.

"Was a pretty large forest creature if so," Yusuke mumbled as everyone followed.

...

The forest grew denser as they traveled inward, all small talk ceasing as they concentrating on plowing through the trees and underbrush.

Misaki led Kuwabara, Yusuke and Yukina on the ground while Hiei and Kurama informed them of easy paths to take from their vantage points as they traversed the trees.

Eventually Kurama joined those on the forest floor as the branches thickened, interweaving together. Soon after that, Kuwabara carried Yukina on his back as the girl could not traverse the ground on her own.

Even Hiei came down from the trees, finding that he was unable to dodge his way through the twisted branches up above.

The going was slower then with no directions from higher up. Hiei and Kurama led the way, the two slashing through the harshest of obstacles with sword and whip, clearing the way only ever-so-slightly so that the others could pass through.

Hiei noticed that Kurama's rose whip was white now, and glowed slightly in the gloom.

Behind them, Misaki would occasionally request that they change direction, heading more to the right or left.

Suddenly the pair in front of her stopped and Misaki almost ran into them.

They both stood defensively, noses in the air.

"There's a fire ahead." Kurama's eyes shifted around the only partially lit forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blaze.

Misaki sniffed the air, but smelled nothing out of the ordinary. "What's it smell like?"

"Like a fire, stupid woman." Hiei retorted.

"That is not what I meant, Hiei." She scoffed, resisting an urge to smack him, "I meant, does it smell odd in any way?"

Kurama and Hiei closed their eyes, analyzing the scent further.

"It's pure." Hiei decided.

"Not quite like a true fire." Kurama nodded.

"It's more like true fire than you know. Head for the smell. If you speak truth-"

"If there's a fire, wouldn't we want to get away from it?" Yusuke pointed out.

"Yeah! Like downwind!" Kuwabara agreed.

"If you enjoy-"

"You don't go downwind, Kuwabara." Misaki interrupted Hiei before the fire youkai could get any further. "If the wind is behind the fire, it'll be carried downwind. Now get moving unless you'd like to sleep this close to one another tonight."

They all looked at each other. They hardly had room to stand, much less sleep.

As they struggled forward once more, the sky above them steadily became more visible, revealing that the sun had set, the moon beginning to rise in the sky.

Misaki turned back to make sure they hadn't lost anybody, running into Hiei when he suddenly stopped again.

He gave her an irritated look over his shoulder, scanning the clearing that had just opened up in front of him and Kurama.

Misaki nudged him forward and aside to let everyone pass by and he shot her the same aggravated look.

"It's fine. This place was made for us to sleep in. Coahtu incinerated the trees herself, see that bit of ash over there?"

The little ash she spoke of was lifted away in the air from a breeze as Hiei caught a glance of it.

"You are too trusting." He said reproachfully.

"Smell the air, Hiei, it is clean of any stench of youkai." Kurama was still sniffing the wind.

"Present company excluded of course." Misaki said primly, brushing past Hiei into the clearing. No, she couldn't actually smell them, human as she was, but the opportunity at an affront was too good to pass up.

"I think she just insulted us." Hiei narrowed his eyes at her back.

"Speak for yourself, Hiei. Technically, I'm a spirit fox." Kurama glided after Misaki, the others close behind him.

"I thought we'd never get out of that!" Yusuke stretched as he walked into clearing.

It was only perhaps ten meters in diameter but it was certainly a welcoming space.

Kuwabara put Yukina down as soon as they were free.

The stars were winking at them overhead and Yukina blinked sleepily, laying on the ground practically in the center of the circle.

Misaki collapsed near her, body crying out for rest, arm throbbing. Yusuke and Kuwabara dropped close to them, promptly falling asleep.

Knowing Coahtu stood watch, Misaki allowed herself to drift off into slumber, though she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

...

Despite her body's need for the sleep, Misaki slept lightly, almost aware of the night noises around her.

She awoke after only a few hours of sleep, feeling that Yukina had curled up back to back with her. Misaki was thankful that the night was warm, for they did not have blankets.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, trying not to disturb the Koorime.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama all lay near by, she saw, but Hiei sat cross-legged at the edge of the clearing with his back against a tree.

His katana was across his lap, his arms folded over his chest above it and the silversih-white star-shaped strip of his hair glinted faintly as the moonlight hit it.

Misaki stood, carefully stepping over the sleeping bodies to him.

"There isn't any need for you to keep watch, Hiei." Misaki said quietly.

Hiei raised his head, seeing Misaki crouched in front of his face.

"We're being watched over."

"Hn."

Misaki shrugged, knowing he would do as he wished, and she started to rise.

Hiei grabbed her arm quickly, pulling her close so that he could whisper in her ear.

"If you breathe a word to my sister about me, you will be dead as soon as the words leave your mouth, if not before." His quiet words were fierce, the threat he would have communicated telepathically clearly evident in his tone.

Misaki almost swore in his face.

He had inadvertently gripped her new arm, and his grip wasn't by any means a kind one.

Biting her tongue to keep from screaming, she took his wrist in her other hand, wrenching his grasp free.

The only reason she was able to actually get loose was because Hiei had been surprised. He had realized that he just grabbed an arm that should not have been there. His eyes widened as he let her go.

"If I had any deranged desire to tell anyone about this information, they would have already known it by now." She hissed through teeth that were clamped shut in pain, her arm cradled against her chest. "As it is, I do not care whether she knows or not and I don't plan to reveal your secret." Extremely put out, she went on, "As for your inane excuse that you don't want her knowing she is associated with someone like you, you should just accept the fact that you simply don't want to tell her because you're afraid that she might reject you. That you've somehow failed her." She snapped the words at him, her temper already as inflamed as her arm felt.

Misaki found Hiei's katana biting into the flesh of her throat, indenting the skin but not quite breaking through.

Hiei's arms shook with rage as he held off his blow, his self-control on the verge of exploding.

"Kill me if it will make you feel better. It will not change what is true." If he did decide to kill her, at least her arm wouldn't be hurting anymore.

"You are around her too much. You will slip." He finally said, his voice obviously straining with the wrath he felt.

"I would slip less easily than Yusuke or the vessel. They have only held this part of the secret for a short while. I know the secret in its entirety and I have known it since before you were born, forbidden child."

Their eyes were locked, battling viciously.

So she knew.

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go off into the forest a ways so I can writhe in pain alone, thank you." Misaki stepped back from his blade, moving into the trees with her arm still clutched close to her body.

When she had gone a ways into the forest, she allowed herself small groan of pain, dropping to her knees and pulling her arm tightly against her stomach.

"Let me see it." Coahtu appeared in front of her, fire-hair waving steadily down her back.

Misaki didn't get a choice. Coahtu forced her to her feet by grabbing her good arm and yanking her up.

She pushed the loose sleeve back to inspect the new arm, moving it in different directions to examine it.

Misaki didn't even feel Coahtu's hands check the limb, so gentle was her touch, and so naturally she looked to see if Coahtu was even doing anything.

She found her face pushed roughly in the other direction.

"The only reason you aren't in horrible pain right now is because you still have not seen it."

Even to Coahtu's hands, the arm felt as though it was on fire. There was a hand print where someone had taken a tight hold of the upper part of the arm. It stood out white against the red-tender skin.

Coahtu inspected the seam where the new arm met with Misaki's actual shoulder. The scar from the searing was there, but it was still clean.

Satisfied, Coahtu relinquished her grip, the sleeve falling back into place as Misaki's arm dropped to her side.

"The whole arm and part of your shoulder." Coahtu shook her head.

"Thanks for reminding me." Misaki's words were dry. "And my thanks for accompanying us. And keeping watch."

"Your fiery friend seems to think it is his job."

"Did you know he's your son?" Misaki looked thoughtfully beyond Coahtu into the trees.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Misaki smiled and shook her head.

"I will, thank you."

Coahtu turned to leave, but stopped in mid-stride, remembering something.

"I was able to contact Koenma."

"So, he's still alive."

"Yes. Most of those in the agency are. I only stole a moment of his time during the communication as things were rather hectic."

Misaki nodded.

"There was something different about him though."

"Oh?" Misaki hoped he hadn't been injured.

"He was missing his pacifier and was extremely upset."

"Really." Misaki's expression became sly, her mouth turning up in a smile.

"It seems as though someone stole it sometime Friday. He hadn't even noticed until one of his ogres asked him where it was."

"Interesting."

"I have my personal suspicions about who stole it."

Misaki didn't answer, but the look on her face confirmed what Coahtu assumed.

"I suppose if I ask you how you did it, you won't tell me."

"Of course I won't."

"You couldn't have gotten into the agency, you were in the Ningenkai." Coahtu scrutinized Misaki's face for some sort of truth.

"It's a personal revenge for something he thought he got away with. He can thank Kuwabara as the source of the idea."

"You disgust me. You enjoy tormenting him. Why take something so simple as a pacifier?"

"Not just a 'simple pacifier'. That thing has enough power to contain an S class youkai should the need ever arise."

Coahtu's eyebrows raised in amazement.

"It's a Mafukin." Misaki explained, "A heavy defensive spell. He's been storing his spirit energy in it for centuries now. 'For darker times' he always says."

"And what if he needs this defense before he finds it?" Coahtu demanded.

Misaki shrugged.

"You are a fool, Ansatsusha." Coahtu's eyes narrowed.

"And you are a coward. I would rather be the fool. Where is your sense of adventure?"

"You carry no sense of self-preservation." Coahtu spat.

"Of course not. It's not as if I'm going to see the Oracle about that sort of thing." Misaki's words were cynical.

"I grow tired of your company." Coahtu turned away again.

"What? You mean you won't join us?" Misaki asked in mock surprise.

"I prefer the view from a distance. Your struggles amuse me." She said as she left.

"That's why you made the clearing for us." Misaki scoffed softly so that Coahtu couldn't hear.

When the fire-haired woman was out of sight, Misaki picked her way back to the clearing, stepping carefully back over the sleeping bodies and laying down where she had been before, quickly falling asleep and not stirring the rest of the night.

* * *

-lotsm


	17. Oracle Arc:: The Forest Attacks

A/N: Chapter Seventeen! ...Hooray! :)

O/C16: The gang stops for sleep, Misaki waking up in the middle of the night and speaking with Coahtu-who is following them from a distance-before going back to sleep again…

* * *

"Is she dead?"

"I believe she's just sleeping, Kuwabara." Kurama responded.

"She's not even moving!"

"Well, you're not exactly an epileptic spider when you sleep either."

"Thanks, Urameshi that helps a lot."

"Misaki? Misaki, please get up."

Misaki groaned softly and rolled over, not really stirring at Yukina's plea. A pang of sharp pain shot up her arm as she rolled onto it and she cringed.

"See. Kurama's right. She's just asleep. This is the part where if it were me I'd be saying, 'Go away mom, since when do you care if I go to school or not?'"

"You are incredibly helpful today, Yusuke."

"Thanks, Kurama, you're too kind."

"You guys are loud enough to wake the dead." Misaki sat up, rubbing her eyes.

While Kurama didn't say it, an 'I told you so' hung in the air.

Her shoulder stiff and now throbbing as always, Misaki stood, "I guess you're ready to go then."

"You mean back into that horrible forest? No way." Kuwabara crossed his arms.

"I guess Yukina will just have to get lost without anyone to carry her."

"But I-"

Misaki stepped lightly on the girl's toe, stopping the words coming out of her mouth.

"I will carry Yukina! Let us go!" Kuwabara pointed gallantly towards the looming forest.

Misaki ignored the death glare Hiei was giving her from where he leaned against a tree, waiting for the others to start moving.

"That was rather effective." Kurama smiled.

Yusuke snickered.

"Which way?" Kuwabara had Yukina in his arms, the epitome of knight in shining armor or at least trying to appear so.

"Let's see…" Misaki turned around in a circle. She couldn't tell which direction they had come from.

"Some guide you are." Yusuke snorted.

"If you care too, forge the way fearless leader." Misaki gestured obscurely to the tangled trees around them.

"Fine. Fine. I get it."

"That's what I thought." Misaki looked up at the sky. Assuming it was still morning, the sun was up to her right.

Misaki pointed to the east and they all stepped back into the immediate gloom of the woods.

…

Kurama and Hiei lead the way as with yesterday, barely able to cut a traversable path for the group with white whip and silver sword.

Misaki kept glancing around them, steadily growing more suspicious of their surroundings but at a lack for the ability to sense any abnormalities in the trees around them.

She stared at one vine that Hiei just cut through, watching as it hung limp for a moment.

"Ninth circle!" She swore as it moved, regenerating and growing back. "What?" Yusuke struggled with a branch in front of his face, unable to simply move it out of the way. He took it in his hands and snapped it in two, tossing it onto the ground and stepping on it.

"Kuwabara! What do you see behind you?" Misaki demanded, whipping around so she could see the red-head, carrying Yukina on his back.

"Uh…" He looked over his shoulder. "Lotsa green stuff. And brown stuff. Branches, vines, leaves…um trees."

"Can you see the clearing? We haven't traveled too far."

"No. No, I can't. There's this tree behind me and a bunch of the branches and stuff in the way…" He faded off, "Didn't Kurama and Hiei cut through all that stuff?"

"Hey Hiei, can you cut any faster?" Misaki's words were rather casual as it dawned on everyone what was happening.

Hiei glanced back at her, "Just how fast are you wanting, woman?"

"As fast as you two can managed."

"Hn. I don't think you can keep up with that." Hiei brandished his sword fluidly at the blocked passage in front of him.

"Get ready to run." She told them all. "The forest isn't planning on letting us get through."

"Misaki…"

Misaki hadn't turned around and the way Kurama said her name made her not want to turn around, but she did.

The place where Hiei had been standing moments before was empty, the fire youkai gone.

Misaki heard Yukina shriek. Then, Kuwabara cursed.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yusuke, don't be a fool!" Misaki warned, turning back around. Her words came too late.

Yusuke tripped and fell before he took more than five steps, disappearing into the dense forest.

"It appears we're being split up." Kurama and Misaki moved closer to one another until they stood back to back, their eyes sweeping the trees around them.

"Yes. I would say so."

"Any ideas?"

"Nope. You?"  
"Nothing comes to mind." Kurama's whip lashed out at a vine that was headed for his face.

"Oh wait. I take that back. I just thought of something." Misaki said thoughtfully, fighting with a branch that caught in the sleeve of her clothes.

"What?"

"COAHTU! If you don't get us out of here right now, you can bet your life that I will hunt you down! And I will kill you this time!"

"This time?" Kurama asked curiously.

"It's a long story."

"You seem to have a lot of those."

"I'm sure you do too, vessel, if you are able to recall your days as Yoko."

"We'll have to sit down and exchange stories sometime." Kurama's whip snapped out, and again, and twice more. But the forest was coming in on them quicker.

"Naturally." Another branched was snagged on her pants, a third reaching out for her other side. "If we live through our journey, we'll make a point of it."

"I look forward to it."

"Good."

They were silent for a second as their fight to stay free continued.

"While I may be able to hit several points of contact at once, I'm afraid I won't be of much assistance soon."

There was a fooshing noise, one that sounded somewhere within the trees to their left, another coming seconds afterwards from their right.

"Took her long enough." Misaki grumbled as a vine began to snake up her leg.

There was a third foosh that came from somewhere in front of Misaki, the forest now completely closed around them leaving the pair with no room to move.

"I would suggest you stand as still as possible." Misaki said, more foliage starting to wrap around her waist.

The forest, furious now, climbed their bodies.

A vine was over Misaki's mouth and as a branch scraped against her bad arm, she yelped, the sound stifled by the vine.

Another vine was over her eyes now, but the blue flame that seared it away blinded Misaki for a moment.

Screaming in rage around them, the forest pulled back for the moment.

As soon as she was free, Misaki dropped to her knees, clutching her arm as she felt blood trickling down it.

Coahtu stood to Kurama's right, the kitsune nodding thanks as her fiery hair began to settle down from her exertions.

"Do not thank me yet. There is still one left if he has not been eaten already."

There was a clear, burnt path behind where she stood and Yusuke stumbled through it to where Misaki and Kurama were, Kuwabara and Yukina also following the paths she incinerated for them, Yukina moving to Kuwabara's clearing, the two of them getting to Yusuke's clearing until finally all six of them were in the same area.

Coahtu walked east, standing in front of Kurama. Her hair flamed up again and whirled around her like scorching armor as she set off east, burning a path for them to follow.

The others stayed close behind Coahtu, though far enough away that they were not burnt themselves.

Misaki rose when they were all but gone, her arm still searing with pain and her vision wavering, to staggering after them.

The forest had pulled back from Hiei in anticipation of the fire-woman.

He hung upside down from the branch of a tall tree, body completely wrapped in vines, his eyes closed and his body limp.

Coahtu raised a smoldering finger and pointed at the thick cluster of vines Hiei was suspended from.

She didn't even have to burn through it, the forest dropped Hiei to the ground.

"You aren't a quick learner, but you do learn." She spoke to the forest.

It moaned in agony at her.

Everyone ran forward, save for Coahtu. Misaki hung back behind the fire-wielding creature as the inferno around her began to wane until her hair blazed in its normal fashion down her back.

"Hiei, are you alright?" Yukina knelt down over him.

At his name, the fire youkai's eyes flew open, the strange effect the forest had on him now relinquished.

"Nothing hurt but his pride I'm sure." Misaki mumbled to herself.

"Get back mortals. You will never free him from those bindings."

They all took a good large step away from Hiei.

Her hair flamed blue as fire shot forth from her outstretched hand and engulfed the body of Hiei.

He was completely covered by the roaring firestorm for several seconds.

He got up when the fire disappeared, his body and clothes completely intact.

"Impressive." Kurama regarded Coahtu with respect.

"She has decent control and can do an acceptable job. When the need arises." Misaki allowed. She stood more firmly now, her arm still hurting but the pangs had lessened.

Coathu glared at Misaki contemptuously.

"So ,are you going to burn us a way through or do I need to show you up?" Misaki asked her.

Coahtu didn't respond.

Misaki shrugged her good shoulder and walked around Coahtu, facing east and raising her hand, palm facing the forest trees as she closed her eyes.

There was an obvious surge of energy and her eyes came open in surprise. A long path was open in front of her, trees sizzling and the ground an ashy color.

She didn't plan on actually doing anything and so logically she turned around, seeing Coahtu lower her hand.

Misaki received another nasty look from Coahtu as the woman passed her, taking the now-clear passage. Misaki stuck her tongue out at her, no one else was privy to this occurrence, and as Coahtu walked by she put her hand in front of Misaki's face and stopped abruptly, flame dancing around her fingertips.

"You wouldn't dare." Misaki smirked.

"Do not try my patience, Ansatsusha." The arm came down and Coahtu continued walking forward, Misaki following after a few feet and the others coming with her.

They traveled exponentially faster with Coahtu around.

After the initial blast from Coahtu's hand, the forest practically fell over itself to open up a path, not desiring any further confrontation while she was around.

However, the path closed up quickly behind the group, reminding them that it would only be too eager to swallow them whole should they dally too long.

They came upon a cave, walking just inside of it before Coahtu stopped and brushed past them all back into the forest.

"My thanks." Misaki said as she left.

Coahtu only nodded, disappearing into the gloom.

"Now what?" Kuwabara wanted to know, watching as their only hope of traversing the woods left them.

"We keep going."

"Into the cave?" Yusuke regarded the stone walls around them.

"No, back into the forest." Misaki's face was expressionless.

Yusuke scrutinized her face, "Are you serious?"

"No. We're going back into the forest."

"You've got to be kidding me." Kuwabara had put Yukina down.

"Yes. Yes I am." Her dead-pan tone hadn't changed as she began walking into the cave.

"Seriously!" Kuwabara's jaw dropped, "We barely made it through to here and now the fire-lady is gone!"

"No. That was called sarcasm, Kuwabara. Get moving." Misaki's back was rapidly disappearing.

"Which direction?" Kuwabara was confused.

Yukina was already behind Misaki.

"Which direction do you think, idiot?" Hiei followed after Yukina.

"Unless you would like to stay here and watch the forest for us." Kurama said over his shoulder as he too began walking deeper into the cave.

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other, then at the seething, leering woods behind them, noticing that vines were snaking through the air towards them.

"I think I'll pass on that one!" Yusuke announced, running after the others.

The forest pouted as its prey disappeared, but not one to give up so easily, it reached into the cave, slowly creeping after them.

* * *

-lotsm


	18. Oracle Arc:: Riddles in the Cave

A/N: Went back and made an edit: since chapter 15 we've been in the Oracle Arc, not Communal Arc. My bad.

O/C17: Coahtu rescues the group from the attacking forest, burning them a path to a cave entrance whereupon she leaves them. The group enters the cave, the forest slowly creeping along behind them…

* * *

The cave remained dark for only the first twenty feet or so, the group heading for the lights that lined the wall on either side.

Their way lit, they continued walking, each of them grave and ready for any surprise attack after the incident in the forest.

They stopped when the path was blocked completely by a large door.

"How do you open a door with no handle?" Yusuke went up and pushed on the door, having no success with opening it.

Kuwabara looked thoughtful, then used the door knocker, sharply rapping twice, "Uh. Hello?"

"Yes?" A voice answered from somewhere behind the door.

"I never would have thought that would actually work." Misaki snorted.

"Can you let us pass?" The burly guy wanted to know.

"Do you have tickets?"

"Do we have tickets?" Kuwabara turned to the rest of them.

"No, Kuwabara. No, we don't." Kurama told him.

"I'm afraid you can't get inside without tickets. Come back when you have them."

"Where do we get these so-called 'tickets'?" Yusuke piped up.

"Inside." The voice said.

Yusuke's mouth hung open for a second, "…then how do we get tickets?"

"Inside." Misaki provided.

"That was so helpful." Yusuke's voice dripped of sarcasm.

"We don't have tickets." Misaki said slower, "The tickets are inside. But we have to get a ticket to get inside. We need to get inside to get a ticket that we don't have to get inside with." She summed up.

Kuwabara rubbed his head. "Ow. My brain."

"We get inside with a ticket…" Kurama began.

"Yes." She nodded.

"And we get a ticket inside…"

"Correct."

"So, we're stuck."

"Basically." She nodded again.

"Open the door or I'll cut it down and kill you when I'm done." Hiei walked over, katana in hand, and stood in front of the impeding doorway.

There was no response.

Hiei moved so fast that none of them saw it, they only saw the big chunks of door he sliced away fall to the floor. The chunks disappeared and the door remained as before.

"That worked well." Kurama raised an eyebrow dryly.

"We need to be inside to get…" Yusuke trailed off, walking forward until he stood in front of the door and considering it. "Wait, why can't you give us the tickets?" He asked.

Misaki and the others gaped as a small door within the door opened and a small youkai sheepishly came out, handing Yusuke the right amount of tickets.

Yusuke's mouth dropped and closed as he took them, the door opening as soon as they were in his grasp.

"I guess that works." Yusuke put a hand behind his head, grinning. "I actually meant that as a question. I didn't expect him to actually hand me the tickets."

That was sort of a let-down for the rest of them.

"Once again Yusuke, you've succeeded by not quite succeeding." Kurama shook his head, smiling.

"When it comes to disappointing…you never disappoint." Misaki agreed.

"Lucky fool." Hiei said as they all entered into the room beyond.

"Those who wish to pass by here must each answer a question." The room reverberated with a different voice this time, a louder more powerful one. "You have two minutes to answer the question. Each question must be given an answer in the time limit or you will die. The first person who speaks after a question has been asked must answer the question. Once you answer a question you may not answer another or you will die. Any time between a question, you may turn back and keep your life. If the question is answered incorrectly-"

"Lemme guess…you die." Yusuke finished.

"Sounds cheery." Kuwabara commented.

There was a second of silence before the voice spoke again, words very clear and articulate.

"Two boxers are in a boxing match. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds but ends in the first five, after on boxer knocks out the other, yet no man throws a punch. How is this possible?"

"Oh! So you're asking riddles! Okay!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

Misaki slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"You who have spoken, answer the question."

"Uh…alright. What was the riddle again?"

The voice repeated its words.

"Boxing match huh? …That's an easy one! The boxers were girls! You said no man threw a punch but the fighters can be two girls, right?"

"That is correct."

"Woo!" Kuwabara pumped a fist into the air.

"Depressing. The idiot still lives." Hiei said.

"Watch it, hamster legs! I can so kick your scrawny butt!"

"You can't even get close enough to try."

"The questions are actually riddles." Kurama mused. "This should prove interesting."

"It's just standard routine." Misaki told him, "I'd forgotten about it."

"Standard routine?" Yukina asked from Misaki's side.

Misaki jumped a little, having also forgotten that the Ice Maiden was with them. "Everyone has to go through this sort of thing to see the Oracle. Kuwabara, please keep your mouth shut from now on."

"No problem."

"We'll see." She said lightly.

"Your next question…"

Everyone grew silent.

"A dozen royals gathered round, entertained by two who clowned. Each King there had servants ten, though none of them were truly men. The lowest servant sometimes might, defeat the King in a fair fight. A weapon stout, a priceless jewel, the beat of life, a farmer's tool."

Kuwabara reclined against the wall of the cave, glad he didn't have to answer this one. He still wondered what the riddle was about and he tried to guess which person would answer first. He bet it would be Kurama.

As soon as the riddle was spoken, Kurama knew the answer. He opened his mouth to speak but felt Misaki's hand on his arm.

He looked over at her and she shook her head, silently indicating that he should not speak.

She was right, of course. Logically, he should wait to see if any of the others could figure it out. If they couldn't then he could always come through at the last second. If someone else realized what the answer was, then they could save his mind for later.

Kurama nodded, agreeing with Misaki's suggestion though no words were spoken between them.

"Oh!" Yukina exclaimed, sudden happiness on her face.

Misaki hoped dearly that the girl knew what the answer would be. She had a feeling Hiei would be just a little bit upset if the Koorime died while on the way to the Oracle. In fact, she was pretty sure he would lob her own head off without a second thought.

"The answer is a deck of cards!" She beamed, pleased with herself.

Misaki let go of the breath she had been holding. That was the right answer.

"That is correct."

"How did you know that, Yukina? I didn't think youkai played card games." Yusuke said.

"I know how to play soul-ee-tear and the riddle made me think of all of those pretty queens and kings on the cards."

"I believe she's talking about solitaire." Kurama interpreted for Yusuke and Kuwabara who looked confused.

"Next question."

They waited.

"Why can't a youkai living in the Ningekai be buried in the Makai?"

"Hn." Hiei scoffed. "Because he is still alive. You'd have to kill him first in order to bury him. Technically."

"That is correct."

"That was quick." Yusuke grinned.

"It was a dumb question." Hiei crossed his arms.

"The only kind you're capable of answering?" Misaki wanted to know.

Hiei's eye twitched and his gaze was smoldering, his hand resting menacingly on the hilt of his katana.

"Next question."

Whatever Hiei was going to say to her in return was cut off by the voice.

"If fifteen crows are on a fence and a farmer shoots a third of them, how many are left?"

"Bwahahahahaha!"

Everyone just stared at Yusuke who was doubled over in laughter, hoping that the boy could do math in his head.

"If…if you shot a third of them, the others are gonna fly away," He gasped for breath, "There aren't any left…"

"That is correct."

"I'll take the last question, vessel." Misaki spoke up.

"As you wish." Kurama assented.

Yusuke was barely able to get his laughter under control.

Misaki shook her head. "What is so funny, Yusuke?"

"I just…I can't…I can't believe they'd ask a stupid question like that!"

"I guess you and Hiei are in the same boat then." She shrugged.

"Next question."

Again, Hiei's comment was cut off by the riddle.

Kurama listened carefully.

"A man wished to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited in the shadows by the door in order to find out the secret to enter. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, 'Twelve.' The member replied, 'Six.' and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, 'Six.' The member replied, 'Three.' and was let in. The man triumphantly walked up to the door. The doorman said, 'Three.' and the man replied, 'One-and-a-half.' But the doorman knew he was a non-member and did not let him in. What should the man have said and why?"

Obviously the man assumed that the password was half the value of the number the doorman said, and obviously the man was wrong. Twelve, six; six, three. These numbers held a second relationship. It was Kurama's task to figure it out.

He wasn't the top-ranked student in his school for nothing.

"The man should have said five as that is the number of letters in the word three."

"That is correct."

"Wow, Kurama." Was all Kuwabara said.

"Next question."

They all knew it was Misaki's turn to answer; she was only one who hadn't answered anything.

Her shoulder was hurting again, feeling raw and tender. Misaki tried to ignore it, concentrating instead on what the voice was saying.

"You might not know at first, but soon you will spot what is wrong with my words. As I talk, it will nag at your mind, informing you of information that you know you know, but you do not know. Not within such a short amount of talking. So I must go on, pulling out vocabulary which at first is nothing odd. Do you catch what I am doing? As it grows, a bright flag should start to swish in front of your brain, signal a flag that will ding an alarm in your skull. But I must ask, will you find out within your limit? It must grow anomalous, gradually unusual, that I am doing what I must. It is uncommon. Almost taboo, you might say. Most cannot know what I am doing for not many can do it..."

"This is no question." Misaki pointed out.

The voice did not heed her, continuing on.

"You plot in your mind. Try to distinguish what quixotic thing I am doing. But it is in vain that you do so. Hardly any can pick out what I am doing against what I am not. With your limits put into position, you might not know though I say you do. Ticking clock is ticking away your costly days in natural sounds of ominous instants. How I do wish it would go on with a rapid rhythm as it annoys us to go on so. You will stop in your tracks and will abscond not at all..."

Kurama had his eyes closed, the words passing through his mind. While he realized what was happening, he also knew Misaki's time was running short.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to keep going."

"And your answer? You have one minute left."

Of course she didn't have an answer. She remained silent.

Kurama's eyes opened and he glanced over at her. Would he give the answer? Could he sacrifice himself for her? This woman that he only met a few days ago? The one who somehow knew Yoko?

"Do I need to repeat it?"

If it decided to repeat it, the rest of her time would fade.

"Four seconds left….

Three…

Two…"

* * *

-lotsm


	19. Oracle Arc:: Ancient Earth

A/N: Ah how I love a good cliffhanger. You'll find that I have great cliffhangers, the ones that leave you hating me because you want to know what happens. -grin- Like you're actually reading this, you've already skipped the author's notes. And the Overview too I'm sure. Just went right on ahead with the story, didn'tcha? …I don't blame you, that last cliffhanger was pretty mean of me.

O/C18: Inside the cave, each member of the group must answer a question before they are allowed to move on and they must answer correctly within two minutes on the penalty of death. It's Misaki's turn to answer. And her time's run out…

* * *

Misaki reached up and covered Kurama's mouth with her hand, preventing him from saying anything.

He looked over at her, eyes wide. She knew that he had the answer. And she had no intention of letting him answer, whether he had decided too or not.

"I will not be indebted to you, vessel." She hissed only loud enough for him to hear.

Her shoulder muscles burned even from just the half-second that her arm had been raised, for it was the new arm, the new hand clamped over his lips.

"One…"

"E! The answer is E!"

There was silence. Misaki had not been the one to answer.

She turned around, her hand dropping from Kurama's mouth.

It was the small youkai who had given them the tickets.

He stumbled forward, dying even as he tried to reach her.

Misaki rushed back to him, her eyes wide and disturbed.

"Ansatsusha…" He fell at her feet and she knelt next to him, gently gathering the tiny being in her arms and pulling him into her lap. "Ansatsusha you…" His words were lost as he struggled to take a breath.

Misaki's brow was knitted together as she considered him. She had been ready. Ready to die. She knew she couldn't come up with an answer; she had prevented Kurama from answering for the express purpose of keeping him alive. She did not want another death on her hands, more blood in her name. And yet…

This youkai, whose name she did not know, had just answered the riddle, saving her life…and yet sacrificing his own in return.

"Why?" Misaki couldn't bring herself to say anything else, whispering the question at the youkai.

His lips moved but Misaki was too far away. She leaned closer and he died as he spoke his last words into her ear.

Misaki stood abruptly, her body tense as she looked behind them apprehensively.

"What is it?" Kurama asked.

"The forest…the forest has followed us here." She pointed.

They all saw the creeping vines coming down the cave along the path they themselves had just come from only a short time ago.

"Keep it back." Misaki ordered. "We just need two minutes, maybe less."

Yusuke faced the oncoming vines, which were still a long ways off.

"The pace is increasing." Kurama noted.

"It's spotted us." Hiei drew his katana.

Yusuke held up his hand, index finger aimed down the cave. "Shot gun!"

The blasts of blue spirit energy flew down the passageway, searing vines and stopping some in their tracks.

"Ask me my riddle. And the rest of you don't say a word unless you want to be killed!" Misaki stared pointedly at Yusuke.

Yusuke shrugged and lifted his palms, grinning in his usual side-ways manner.

"Final question."

"Get on with it." Misaki said impatiently.

The vines had in fact spotted them, dashing down the rest of the length of the cave, tendrils reaching for its prey.

Misaki grabbed Yukina, bringing the girl with her to the other side of the room, the four guys spanning the cave's width, blocking the vines' path. As the pair settled, Yukina took a stance facing the vines, putting her hands together and mumbling very quietly under her breath. The air began to cool.

"Death hears not this living creed,

abounding darkness has no leave.

Some say these two coexist,

without the One the other miss."

Misaki was glad that she had not turned her back to the battle, for a few vines broke through the Spirit Detectives defenses, heading straight for her and Yukina. However, there was a small flash at the end of each vine and they froze in place, the air growing colder as Yukina's chant poured faster from her lips. Misaki, knowing the Koorime had the matter at hand, completely turned her attention to the riddle-speaker.

"A balance there?

They speak not truth,

while darkness tries to be aloof-"

One vine changed direction and neither Misaki nor Yukina saw it slither underneath its frozen brethren, unseen.

"it cannot win and it will fail,

against the Answer no avail."

A dark shape appeared between them and the oncoming vine, which had split into several tendrils and reached voraciously for them, and with numerous slashes, fought the vine back. It squealed as it fell to the ground, whipping madly in its death. The shape disappeared.

"Sinister gloom is frightened away,

cannot be where This Other stays."

Yusuke fired another shot gun, yelling the keyword loudly in his head, the blue orbs hissing as they made contact with various attacking vines as well as the cave wall, leaving black marks behind.

"Even when surrounded by,

death cannot truly hide."

"Are you quite finished?" Misaki shouted above the noise of battle. Luckily someone was watching her back again, for more vines were racing towards her. There were several loud, graceful snaps as another, whiter and more thorny vine slit the green one, more falling to the ground frozen.

Misaki glanced over her shoulder, grateful that others were watching more attentively than she.

Kurama nodded to her as their gazes locked before he darted to the side, letting her know that she could keep her main focus on answering the riddle.

"And dark will never understand,

The reason for Its upper hand."

"Is it customary to continue even when someone has the answer?"

The riddler stopped. "Then you have an answer?"

"Did I not just say that?"

Misaki didn't see the vines that grappled her legs from behind. One slithered up her thigh faster than she could react to it and latched onto her new arm, pulling her down forcefully. Misaki went to the ground, her scream strangled off by the second vine which wrapped around her throat, instantly cutting off her air supply.

No one could assist anyone else. They were all in the same state. The vines over took the group by sheer numbers. Kuwabara's spirit sword, Hiei's katana, Yusuke's fists and Kurama's whip all seemed to flash madly in the air, fighting off the vines around their feet that grasped them from the waist down.

Misaki watched helplessly as the Koorime chanted fervently, the vines held at bay by an ice-shield that had appeared in front of her body. Slowly for a moment, the shield began to expand. Once began, it shot out in a blast towards the other end of the cave, this time no single vine escaping its solid, unmoving state.

"Ten seconds remaining."

Struggle as much as she could, Misaki could not bite free herself even from the frozen tendrils to speak the answer. Had her mouth been free, a string of curses would have bitten the air in her frustration.

Suddenly the vines loosened their grip and Misaki saw the dark shape standing over her as a silver brightness slashed near her face, the wind from the katana making her blink as it just slashed shy of her nose.

Hiei pivoted to face Yukina, flowing his first attack with his next, and for good measure cut those in front of her with one upward swoop chained with a downward slice across his body, the ice crashing loudly to the ground. There was only an instant in time difference between his freeing Misaki and defiantly slashing the other vines.

_"Speak, foolish woman. I refuse to let your shortcomings be the cause of my death."_

Hiei's words rang clearly and impatiently in her head when she did not say the answer immediately, despite the mind barrier that the jewel behind her ear provided.

Misaki gasped for breath, the word inaudible, but clearly on her lips.

"Your answer?" The voice demanded.

"Light." She said, her voice stronger with more air behind it, "The answer is Light." Misaki cringed, sitting up and looking towards the ground, the words of the riddle still ringing clearly in her head.

Upon her declaration of the answer, they were all enveloped in a fierce light, the cave around them disappearing.

Yusuke stumbled forward, in the middle of a punch which just swept through empty air.

Every one of them hoped they would be taken out of the cave, at the very least someplace where the vines could not reach them.

Yusuke groaned when the light faded to a kind glow that lit up the room around them.

"I can't believe we're still in this dumb cave!"

"At least here we cannot be attacked." Kurama pointed out.

They were in a completely different room, one with no windows or doors, this one empty except for-

"Hey what are those things?" Kuwabara jabbed a finger towards three lighted circles in the ground, each of them a primary color.

"Those would be circles of light in the ground, Kazuma." Yukina told him.

"Uh…thanks Yukina."

"Misaki…" Kurama trailed off as he turned to see Misaki still sitting on the ground, her hair falling to either side of her face masking any expression her face was contorted into.

Quickly turning away and placing the subject on a matter unrelated to her, Kurama looked at Yusuke.

"I am quite impressed Yusuke that you were able to summon your Shot Gun without speaking the words. And Kuwabara, you too should be commended on bringing out your Spirit Sword. It is not an easy task to do these sort of things with thought only."

The pair were quite pleased with the compliment.

"Yeah, well I hope to never have to do that again," Yusuke collapsed onto the floor, suddenly breathing heavily, "It takes a lot more power."

Kurama nodded in agreement. "And for once, Hiei, you didn't say something you shouldn't."

Hiei glared at Kurama for alluding to the incident with the psychics.

After a beat, Misaki rose, her face plain and without emotion. She walked forward to look at the circles, keeping a safe distance away.

"That language is certainly odd." Kurama's head was cocked to the side. He came up next to Misaki and regarded the wall behind the circles with interest.

There were what appeared to be words carved into the cave wall.

"It has the appearance of Arabic and Egyptian, and I believe there could be Latin words as well, the sentence structure resembling French. It looks to read from bottom to top though."

Misaki raised her eyebrows, looking over at him.

He smiled at her that same small, sweet smile he always wore.

She shook her head, "I need to stop forgetting that you are intelligent, vessel. Most would not get that far with these words." She gestured to the wall.

"I assume you know the language then?"

"Ancient Earth. Language of the Stones."

"Stefen's language." Kurama filled in.

Misaki remembered their conversation while they walked through the city, ruefully recalling how much she had told him.

"You pick up things fast. As I have said before, it will get you killed."

"Or I will outlive everyone I know." He quipped.

Misaki shook her head, "I hope that you do not, vessel. It is a lonely path to live."

"More of this idiocy." Hiei spat, seeing the unintelligible words on the wall, "These are not trials, these are mind games."

"Hiei, I would have thought you lived for games." Misaki acted surprised.

Not in a good mood, Hiei glared at her as he had Kurama, his hand absently resting on the hilt of his katana.

"Hey Kurama, what did 'E' mean?" Yusuke asked, looking thoughtful.

"Pardon?" Kurama turned around.

"'E'. That little youkai shouted out 'E' just before time ran out. How is that an answer?"

"The words the riddler spoke did not contain the letter 'E', the most common letter used in the English language." Kurama explained.

Kuwabara wandered over towards the wall, "What does it say?"

Misaki put an arm in front of him, the uninjured one, "I would not move closer until we find out."

"I assume that you know this language." Kurama looked over at her.

She shook her head, "There are few that can truly talk to stones, coax the earth. It has been a long time since I've encountered it, and as I did not like studying the language, not much of it stuck."

"You had to study this junk?" Yusuke's nose crinkled in disgust.

Misaki ignored Yusuke's sympathy, recalling that only Kurama knew of the Elements and wishing to keep it so.

"I believe that once you understand how the structure works, we should be able to conjure up a decent translation in a relatively short amount of time." She spoke to Kurama.

"Wake me up with something interesting happens." Hiei huffed, plopping down against the wall and promptly fall asleep.

"Wish I could do that." Yusuke snorted.

"It's his way of not having to deal with something he doesn't want to deal with." Yukina said insightfully.

"How do you know that?" Yusuke looked at her.

"Because it's what Kazuma is doing." Yukina pointed.

On the opposite side of the room, Kuwabara was sprawled out, snoring.

Yusuke laughed, "They have more in common than they think."

"What else do they have in common?" Yukina's eyebrows drew together.

"Uh…eheh…" Over Yukina's head, Yusuke saw that Hiei's eyes were open and glaring at him. "Nothing. They don't really have anything in common I guess." He laughed again, nervously this time.

Misaki regarded Yusuke thoughtfully, "If you really wish to go to sleep Yusuke, you might come and listen.

"You were right," Here Misaki sat down, Kurama sinking with her, and she began drawing lines in the dirt floor of the cave room with her finger. "Some Latin roots are used, though really these predate Latin. And the odd tower shaped order of the writing is read from bottom to top, but also from right to left, starting at the bottom right edge and working outwards in an hourglass shaped fashion to the top left…"

Yusuke was quickly asleep in a very listening-to-school-teacher-lecture like fashion.

…

"Ugh. More verse." Misaki hunched over her latest scratchings in the dirt. "I thought we might have been done with it with the riddles. Why does everything have to rhyme anyway?"

"You remembered more than you thought you would." Kurama changed the subject, sitting back to rest on his hands.

They had some of the translation done, though they found that a lot of what was written was merely to throw the reader off track. They were forced to sort through this to get to the true meaning.

"It's coming back a little." She allowed, "But I can only think of the oddest rules, not the most common ones. The ones that would help.

"'Blue, yellow, red. What we have said. Stand in line, break the tine.'" Misaki sighed, "It's mostly just unhelpful."

"Or stating the obvious." Kurama added.

They finished the last of the translating, both sighing a little in completion when they were done.

Hours had gone by from when they started and they were the only ones not asleep, though they were so engrossed in their work that they hadn't noticed.

"Hiei, you might want to get up. I expect you're ready for a good fight." Misaki stood, wiping off dirt from her clothes.

Hiei was up as she spoke the words, promptly at her side with an aura of eagerness.

The others were roused from their slumber until everyone stood a ways in front of the strange glowing circles.

"'Three places, three times, separate use, one demise. Forfeit your life and all are through, even only one of you.'"

"Charming." Yusuke commented.

"Get to the fighting." Hiei ordered.

"My apologies, oh impatient one." Misaki didn't sound apologetic at all.

"As well as we can make out," Kurama the peacemaker interrupted, "These circles are merely transportation devices, taking the user to an area specifically rendered for them according to their abilities and strength. You must traverse the area, making your way to the end of it where you will face a major battle of some sort. Upon your victory, you obtain an item that along with all the others will transport us out of this cave to the next part of our journey."

"You talk too much." Hiei began walking for the red transport.

Yukina followed suit, stepping into the blue one despite Kuwabara's complaints.

"We all have to go through an area, Kazuma, so I may as well go now."

Kurama went to stand in the yellow one.

As soon as the three circles were occupied, they grew brighter, a quiet hum filling the room as all three youkai disappeared.

Misaki sat down again, "Now we wait."

…

Hiei's feet alighted on the ground silently as he was dropped to the ground from a meter in the air.

The transport had taken him outside somewhere and he stood at the edge of a high cliff.

On either side was a wall too high to climb, its surface too smooth to even attempt such a thing. Stretching forward, the walls continued down the cliff, leaving only one path to take: forward off the side of it.

A mass of enemies at the bottom lined the path completely as far as the eye could see.

Hiei allowed himself a small smile, the Jagan awake and buzzing excitedly in his head.

…

Yukina immediately felt at home.

The ice cavern around her was silent of noise, cold and comforting. What little light there was, coming from some unseen source, embraced the wall and ceiling around her.

Yukina walked forward, the only direction she could go, a little bounce in her steps as she peered at herself in the reflection of the ice walls and hummed softly.

…

The close proximity of the plants around him made Kurama think back to when he and Yuu Kaitou faced off in the Taboo match.

Even with the brief trek down memory lane, Kurama's mind still focused outward on the area around him.

A small path lead through the dense flora, and Kurama took it, seeing no other way to continue.

…

Each of them kept going straight, though in different ways.

Hiei was almost happily killing everything in his path, Yukina sang to herself as she walked and Kurama observed the plants and things around him, mentally cataloging the numerous varieties he spotted.

…

Hiei ducked easily under a punch headed for his face, lifting his feet up almost simultaneously as he avoided being tripped up by another enemy behind him.

He jabbed forward, his katana sinking deeply into the fleshy stomach of his opponent, drawing it out just as quickly and turning his upper body to slash the second through, the two halves falling to the ground with a dull thud. His feet followed the movement of his body, touching the ground only slightly before he dashed between two other columns of enemies, katana striking left and right and left and right, the enemies he sprinted past falling to the ground as he moved passed them.

While fluidly cutting down his enemies, Hiei noticed that the path he followed was leading to a more open circular area.

He slit the enemy in front of him from top to bottom, pivoting lightly on his toes to lacerate another. He gracefully jumped into the air, landing on a large one's shoulder, slicing its head from its neck.

Hiei leapt forward again before the blood could touch him, using the move on several others in close succession.

He cut the last one's feet out from under it, bring his sword up to finish it off.

It fell to the ground like its brethren and he wiped his katana off on its clothing, sheathing the sword under his cloak when it was clean before running into the circular area.

That's when he heard the monstrous roar.

Hiei looked up, the sun blotted out, as a large shadow steadily grew bigger around him.

Hiei stepped to the side as the gargantuan monster shook the earth in the impact of its fall, feet landing only centimeters away from his face.

…

Kurama lifted his nose to the air and smelled a fragrance that was one of the sweetest scents he had ever come across.

The path widened in front of him into a larger clearing, the smell wafting from that direction.

Kurama followed his nose to a single, enormous flower. The petals were open, filling almost all of the open space, the stamen moving elegantly in the little breeze that passed by.

Immediately Kurama knew that this flower was dangerous, but while he proceeded with caution, his legs kept moving forwards, the former kitsune drawn to the flower as a bee to nectar.

The smell grew stronger and soon all Kurama could think of was getting close enough to bask in the scent, where it would surround him.

A blaring warning went off in his head, but it was easily overpowered by the odor, his senses masked by it.

Kurama took great care not to step on the petals as he drew close to the center. He could practically see the scent rising from the center, a yummy purple color.

He came so close that he could not go further unless he stepped on the flower itself. Lightly, carefully so as not to bruise it, he did so.

As soon as Kurama's feet were on the petals, they began to close around him, ever so slowly, ever so quietly, and Kurama did not notice. He was in the middle of the smell now.

He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and the petals engulfed him.

…

Yukina's humming reverberated quietly on the walls around her as she began to skip forward.

Here, here in the safe protection of the ice, with no one else around but her and her element, she was herself.

Yukina picked up some fallen ice shards, forming them into a circlet that she placed atop her head before she moved on.

There was a beautiful bird a ways in front of her and Yukina stopped short, her face breaking into a smile.

The glow of the cave reflected on the small bird as it moved, casting the light off of its body in a million different directions and colors. The bird appeared as though it was made of diamond, every facet of its body etched out in brilliance and splendor.

Yukina took a step towards it, holding out her hand.

The bird considered her with one intelligent eye, then the other, preening itself in-between actions.

She came closer, slowly, wishing to befriend this magnificent being.

It took off, flew once around her head before landing briefly on her shoulder only to fly away again, up the path.

Yukina followed and the bird grew in size in front of her, its wings almost grazing either side of the passageway, its wings making a steady sound as it flew. It let out a call that echoed in the large area just beyond, raising its head as it flew on into the area.

Dutifully in its shadow, Yukina stopped as the bird alighted on a sturdy perch out of reach, its long tail feathers hanging down towards the ground.

…

The beast was slow, stupid and predictable. It swung left and right with its arms, the span of which filled up the walled-in circle.

Hiei avoided the blundering attacks easily, the first one high, the second low. When this didn't work, the beast would then attempt to trample Hiei with its feet.

High, low, trample.

As the arm came at him, Hiei tried to slice through the skin, finding that the hide was too tough and that he didn't even make so much as a scratch.

High, low, trample.

Hiei waited for the next low swing, skirting the attack as the fist came closer and jumping onto the hand, running up the wrist and arm to the shoulder.

He leapt off of the shoulder across the front of the face, slashing with lightning speed as he passed, landing neatly on the other shoulder.

To an average eye, Hiei disappeared when the beast swung at him, reappearing moments later on its other shoulder.

Hiei strategically soared back and forth, over and around the head. While the skin may have been too tough to open, the more sensitive areas were not. Eyes, lips, nose, ears, all of these were fair game.

The beast howled as the small cuts began to add up, surprised at how annoying an insignificantly tiny gnat could be while it tried to swat him away.

Hiei launched off of the beast after a moment, landing on the ground when it shook him away, then he waited for it to begin its attacks once more.

…

Kurama sat up in a shock, feeling a mucus covered tentacle touch his hand.

His legs were already wrapped, the tentacles working their way up his waist, his foot was dangling in a gaping maw and he was being tugged closer.

Snatching his hand away, Kurama looked around quickly.

Spit from the abyss sloshed onto his clothes, the fabric hissing as minute holes formed where the drops fell. Digestive juices. Yummy.

Kurama cringed as he became aware of a horrible smell coming from deep within the mouth. Bad breath didn't begin to describe it.

Reaching into his hair, Kurama pulled out the white rose Misaki gave him that was hidden there.

It glowed, pulsating now as if it had a heart beat and he held it under his nose, taking a deep breath.

The clear, indescribable scent filled his mind and he immediately felt as though a heavy fog was lifted from him, all grogginess caused by the purple odor now gone. The smell brought many memories flashing before his eyes and he allowed himself an indulgent smile.

Still smelling the rose, Kurama glanced around his prison, feeling a tug and the tentacles drew him closer.

Kurama deftly changed the rose into a whip, lashing at the tentacles where they disappeared into the waiting mouth.

The whip glowed brighter, a pure untainted light.

Standing up and brushing off the tentacles, Kurama backed away from the chasm, looking around for a trigger that would open the petals up.

Above his head, the tips of the petals folded inward, hanging into the closed area.

Kurama struck them, escaping as the flower snapped open.

…

The bird cried out again and Yukina stepped closer, the beauty of the creature entrancing.

This time though, as she came closer, the bird's form began to change, its wings spreading out while it shape-shifted, coming down from the perched and morphing into a fierce woman, tall and poised, standing just under the perch.

The bird was normal sized once more and caught evilly in the woman's grasp.

"No! Stop! You're hurting it!" Images flashed in front on Yukina's eyes; remembrances of being kidnapped and another bird that was squeezed to death.

Laughing coldly, the woman merely closed her grasp on the bird, the facets cracking and the bird squawking.

"Stop it!" Yukina pleaded, tears starting to form in her eyes. There was nothing she could do though she ran forward, the woman was obviously stronger than she.

With just a last simple squeeze, the bird shattered, its remains falling to the ground and tinkling musically.

Yukina fell to her knees at what was left of the bird, her tears now creating their own sad melody when they dropped as jewels over the pieces.

Yukina put her face in her hand, her circlet slipping of her head and shattering on the icy cave floor.

The woman laughed heartlessly at the broken figure before her.

The round jewels formed a small pile, covering the broken bird like small rocks set up for a grave.

A small chirp came from under the pile and Yukina's sobbing stopped.

Rising from the precious ashes, the little bird considered her quizzically. Suddenly taken by her delight, Yukina held out her hands, the bird hopping into them.

Irritated, the woman reached down to snatch the bird away, but the bird caught the movement, peeping indignantly while fluttering out of reach.

It grew larger faster this time, high up in the air as it was, and it dive-bombed at the astonished woman below.

* * *

There are several references to previous episodes in here, though I couldn't tell you the exact episodes since I haven't watched the anime in a while…

-lotsm


	20. Oracle Arc:: Their Trials

A/N: w00t. Chapter 20. Enjoy.

O/C19: Still in the cave, the gang is confronted with three rings of light, Hiei, Yukina and Kurama each entering one, the others waiting for them to return. Hiei is faced with a monstrous beast, Kurama a deadly flower and Yukina a strange bird…

* * *

Hiei's back slammed into the wall behind him, his body pinned against it by the enormous hand of the beast. He struggled, his hand losing grip on the katana he clutched. It slipped out of his grasp and clattered the long distance to the ground.

The fight had been going in Hiei's favor: the monster's face was horribly disfigured from the countless cuts Hiei carved.

High, low, trample. High, low, trample. This was all the beast knew.

It did change things up a little when it swung both high and low at the same time, steadily growing in speed the more Hiei attacked.

Hiei could merely jump from fist to fist when this happened, running up the arm as before, slashing at the face until the monster shook him off, and repeat.

He hadn't expected the third arm that came out of its chest as he jumped from one hand to the other, catching him in mid-air and crushing him into the wall. He felt at least one rib snap with the blow.

It let him go and he dropped like a stone, head still reeling from the impact with the wall. He didn't get very far.

Sharp claws shot out of the monster's fingertips and pierced his shoulders, stabbing into the wall behind him and holding him up. He cried out in surprise at the attack, having expected to hit the ground.

The claws were thick and his muscles tore easily underneath them.

…

Kurama quickly transformed white whip into white rose, holding it under his nose as the purple smell the flower gave off began to affect him again.

His mind cleared up as before, the scent possibly his favorite smell second only to the person whose smell was identical to it…

…

Yukina looked away, shutting her eyes tight and clamping her hands over her ears.

The woman was being torn apart by her bird, her beautiful bird, now a monstrous size, and Yukina couldn't watch.

The screaming finally ceasing, Yukina turned back around. A leg was hanging out of her bird's mouth which was open slightly in a disturbing sort of smile. A fine row of diamond-sharp teeth lined the beak and Yukina's stomach churned at the sight of blood flowing down its neck.

The bird sucked in the leg like a piece of spaghetti, its reddened tongue snaking out to lick its blood-stained chops.

The pure, iridescent color of the bird had been tainted by its meal, its body now ruby, beady eyes onyx.

Yukina trembled when the bird glanced her way, its terrible beauty something one was not able to enjoy.

The beast sensed her fear, taking a light hop forward, considering her under first one eyes, then the other.

Yukina retreated as it came closer, the pair continuing advancement and recoil until the Ice Maiden found herself with no more room to back up.

The bird craned its long neck down to her level, looking at her with one eye.

"G-go away." Yukina's voice was tremulous.

Its head lifted and it cried out, the sound like the unavenged death of a thousand men, shrieking from purgatory. Its eyes smoldered as it look at her again.

"Leave me alone!" Yukina buried her face in her hands again as the bird's head rapidly sank downwards to snatch her up.

Fear and confusion whipped up the snow storm that came with no warning, the room suddenly a blur of emotional blizzard, winds screeching and snow piling up within seconds.

The bird shrieked again as it spread its wings out, setting on fire and burning the air around it.

A heavy fog fell over the room as a result, making it even more impossible to see.

…

Using all that remained of his strength, Hiei managed to lift his feet up and brace them at the webbing between the beasts fingers. He reached up in the midst of a pain that was beginning to subside as adrenaline kicked in and grabbed onto the two claws that held him, pushing with his feet. Once. Twice. He took a deep breath, gathered himself, and shoved as hard as he was able, knuckles of his hands white with his grasp.

The claws came free, blood splattering onto Hiei, and the beast yowled in pain, drawing away from the fire youkai.

As he fell, Hiei took as careful aim as he could and flung a claw into one of the monster's eyes, dropping the second claw by accident as his muscles could do no more.

His aim was true, in spite of his torn shoulders and broken ribs which his body's natural morphine masked for the moment.

Hiei landed on the ground, rolling to absorb as best he could what might have been a deadly impact.

He stood, wavering a little, concentrating on pulling energy into his right arm.

…

Kurama gracefully dodged the flower as other tentacles reached out for him to try and steal its prey back. He waited, analyzing every inch of the lethal flower, searching for the best way to end it before he struck.

…

Yukina crouched in a corner, hands around her knees. Snow was piled all around her, yet she remained untouched, unaffected by the cold. The storm raged on.

…

"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

…

"Rose Whip Lash!"

…

The storm subsided with Yukina's emotions. Somehow she was on top of it, the snowflakes building up under her and raising her to the top.

She was close to the ceiling, able to see many reflections and distortions of herself in the icy mirrors.

The snow began sinking, began melting away from the bottom up.

Yukina stood in alarm, afraid of what might be happening.

She was lowered back down to the ground until about a meter of snow covered the ground.

But in the middle of the room was a deeper depression where all of the snow was melted away in the shape of a huge bird. But the bird was not there.

Cautiously, Yukina made her way to the hole and leaned over it, spotting a glimpse of something sparkling at the bottom. She got closer.

It was the bird. Blood-red in color, small enough to carry in two hands, and immobile. Wings stretched out behind it with its mouth open in a fierce cry, legs and claws extended as if swooping down to snatch something off the ground, the small statuette's onyx eyes gleamed.

A bright green circle of light formed around it.

…

Hiei dropped to his knees, arms hanging uselessly by his sides. The shoulders of his black over-cloak had gaping holes in them from where the claws pierced his skin.

With difficulty, he stood and made his way to his sword, which had dropped with the point embedded in the ground. The claw he had dropped lay near it.

He stumbled, strength spent, and fought to keep his eyes open, making it to his sword and pulling a hand up to grasp the hilt.

A violet circle of light formed around him as his eyes closed.

…

The flower lay in sections around the clearing and Kurama returned the white rose back into his hair.

The pulsations of light that emitted from the rose were no longer steady there at the last, as if some inner heart beat was perhaps faltering.

Warily, Kurama watched as the pieces of flower glowed, shrinking and forming together again.

When the glowing stopped, there in its place lay the figure of a flower, settled in the grass.

A circle of orange light surrounded it.

…

Misaki stood up as the circles changed from red, yellow and blue to purple, orange and green.

"Ew. Purple." Yusuke grinned, going to stand in front of the orange one.

"Yah big baby." Kuwabara taunted.

"I don't see you volunteering to go in it." Yusuke replied.

Kuwabara stood in front of the green one.

"Oh, just drop it, will you?" Misaki sighed, taking her place in front of the purple circle.

"How was it?" Misaki heard Yusuke ask.

She glanced over to see Kurama and Yukina had each returned, stepping out of their respective circles,….and was nearly knocked over as something slumped into her.

Misaki found herself catching Hiei in her arms before he collapsed to the floor, slowly lowering the both of them down until his shoulders and head rested in her lap.

A pool of blood had gathered around his sword and a shiny figurine of some sort lit up by the violet light.

"Hiei?" Misaki feared shaking him awake and simply moved some hair back that had fallen over the Jagan. This Eye was not under its usual bandana and stared unblinking at her.

Unnerved by its harsh watchfulness, her hands extended to remove Hiei's cloak, the source of what she took to be all of the blood and dirt. There were nasty gashes in each of his shoulders.

Hiei grabbed one of her wrists and Misaki bit her lip so hard that blood came from it. Of course he would grab the wrist that was sore; this seemed to be Misaki's luck of late.

His eyes flew open but he didn't seem to be registering much.

"Hiei," Her words were short, "This needs to come off so you don't get an infection." She began prying his fingers away.

The effort it took to move his arm that fast, coupled with the fact that he shouldn't have been able to do so with the condition his shoulders were in, made his grasp weak for which Misaki was thankful. Had he been at full strength, she wouldn't have been able to make him let go.

She put his arm down carefully, holding her now burning wrist close to her body and his eyes fluttered closed.

By this time the others had seen and ran over.

"Yukina." Misaki said, peeling off his cloak as quickly as she could with one hand.

The girl sank down next to Hiei without Misaki having to say another word.

"Hold his arms down." She said, "He shouldn't be moving them and he'll want too."

Kurama grabbed one and Yusuke the other, Misaki placing Hiei's head carefully on the ground and then scooting herself back to make room for them.

"Ribs are broken on both sides." Misaki said as she stood up, knowing what the tell-tale bruises on his sides meant.

"And his legs have been weakened." Yukina added, "He must have fallen a long distance."

"Can you help him?" Yusuke wanted to know.

Yukina situated herself as close as she could and put her hands on his chest, "It will take a while. He's badly injured." Her hands began glowing.

"Are these what we were supposed to bring back?" Kurama held up one hand, the other still pinning Hiei's arm to the ground.

Misaki saw the sapphire flower he held lithely in his fingers and she glanced over at the other circles. A wicked, yellow-jasper claw lay near Hiei and in Yukina's circle was a ruby bird.

The statuettes slowly rose into the air, hovering above their heads before moving to float together above the circles.

"I would take that as a yes." Misaki nodded, "We should go." She said to Yusuke and Kuwabara, "By the time we get back perhaps Yukina will be done."

Yukina nodded that Yusuke could let go of Hiei and she put one of her knees over the fire youkai's arm.

"Be careful." Kurama said they stepped into the circles.

"Hey, it's me." Yusuke said as they disappeared into the realms beyond the light.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kurama sighed, smiling a little.

…

The scene around Yusuke shifted until he was standing alone in the cave, the others gone. A path was now open and so he walked forward, seeing no other way to proceed.

…

Kuwabara found himself in the midst of a festival, standing in the middle of a main walkway, the vendors to either side of him appearing more like carnival vendors than the cheery festival type.

He ambled along the walkway, trying his hand a few of the games but losing every time of course.

He realized that the games were rigged when the ball he threw smashed into the bottom-most bottle and bounced off.

Disgusted, the red-haired young man thrust his hands in his pockets and began walking again.

"No morals. No honor at all." He mumbled.

…

The cave disappeared for Misaki. Everything disappeared for Misaki. She stood in darkness, unable to even see her hand in front of her face.

Way ahead of her, a small pool of light with no obvious source shone faintly and so she walked towards it.

…

Yusuke stumbled over something just as the cave around him opened up into a larger area.

Cursing the dim light, he picked up whatever it was and almost flung it at the wall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Yusuke paused, arm poised for a good throw, "You wouldn't, huh? Well you're not me!" He pulled back a little farther and started to swing his arm forward.

"That isn't very smart."

"I'm not known for being smart." Yusuke retorted.

"That is your ticket out of here, however. The statuette you were sent to retrieve."

Yusuke peered ay the object in his hand but couldn't quite make out what it was.

"I really sort of have an attachment to it too so I'd prefer if you didn't squash it against the wall."

…

"You sir! You look to be a fine gentleman!" One of the vendors motioned to Kuwabara.

"Me?" Kuwabara looked around, not enjoying the expression on the seller's face.

"I have a deal for you!" The squatty mad led Kuwabara to a tent, shoving him inside.

…

"Stop."

Misaki's feet were rooted to the ground, the pool of light no closer than it had been when she started out.

"Your lack of ability physically shall be tested mentally."

Misaki groaned. She knew the whole riddle episode wasn't over, she just knew it.

"Answer correctly or pay with your life."

"Same 'ole, same 'ole." Misaki sighed.

"The part of the bird, not in the sky, swims in the sea and yet remains dry."

Misaki and Eldred had once gone through a riddle phase and this was among the ones they asked one another.

"The shadow."

Misaki felt the floor beneath her move and the light was closer.

"What makes more noise dead than alive?"

Again, this was a familiar one.

"Leaves."

She moved along the floor again.

"What fills up a room, but take up no space?"

Surprised and pleased Misaki was that all of the riddles were ones she had heard before. "Air."

The light was obviously quite near.

"How can an average sized human put a bottle in the center of a room and crawl into it?"

Misaki opened her mouth but she hadn't heard this one before.

"He changes size." Misaki shrugged.

"Incorrect."

"Great."

She collapsed to the floor, her vision giving out and the pool of light disappearing.

* * *

-lotsm


	21. Oracle Arc:: Their Trials Continue

A/N: So I /did have this cool thing going where each story arc was seven chapters long...emphasis on the /did.

O/20: Hiei, Kurama and Yukina all return from their trials; Yusuke, Kuwabara and Misaki taking their turns. Yusuke just picked something up in a cave, Kuwabara just got shoved into a tent at the fair and Misaki just died…

* * *

Yusuke realized that it wasn't the object talking to him. The voice came from a couple of meters away, standing in the middle of the more open, well-lit part of the cave.

Yusuke stepped into the light.

The figure was a darkly robed man, nothing on his face but a mouth.

"So…I'm supposed to fight you?" Yusuke asked.

The man nodded.

Yusuke shrugged, "Okay."

His fist shrouded in spirit energy, Yusuke pulled him arm back to deliver a bone-crushing punch.

He stumbled forward when the man disappeared, recovering quickly and crouching as his eyes swept the cave around him.

Yusuke became aware that the thing he had picked up was slimy and…moving.

Giving a little shout of surprise, Yusuke dropped it to the floor.

The heart lay on the ground, pulsing slightly and Yusuke quickly wiped his hand on his pants, making a face.

"Please don't do that."

Looking to his left, Yusuke saw the faceless man frowning.

"I still use it you know. It isn't as if this sort of arrangement is permanent."

"Oh gross!" Yusuke wiped his hand on his pants again. "That's disgusting."

"You might want to pick it up-"

"I don't think so!" Yusuke blanched.

"If I get to it, you lose." The man seemed to be floating forwards slowly.

…

"Come in! Come in!" Someone cackled.

Kuwabara stood just inside the musty tent, moving forward at the invitation.

There was a woman behind a table, crystal ball in place just shy of her fingers.

"It smells." Kuwabara scrunched his nose up.

"Take a seat." The woman gestured to the chair near him, on the other side of the table. Her oily smile matched the condition of her hair.

Every time the gypsy moved her patched clothing tinkled, the heavy skirt and top covered with semi-bright knick-knacks, her shawl the same. There were several gaudy rings on each of her hands, sometimes more than one per finger. Her nails were long and the deep blue polish was cracked in places. Her jewelry did not only cover her hands, there were bracelets on her bony wrists, numerous dangling earrings in her ears. As for her face…there was way too much make up in way too intense colors.

"My good man," Her eyes were expressive, due to the massive eyeliner, "I want to let you know that my associate out there, the one who pointed you in my direction, has been informed to only allow a select few into my tent. He has an eye for character and can pick someone with high morals out of a dense crowd."

Near her knee, at about the height of the table, was a small stool with a bowl, warm coals in it. Hooked over the edge was a ladle which she picked up, scooping water out of a bucket at her feet and pouring it over the coals. A steam filled the room.

Kuwabara sat up straighter. Kuwabara was the most honorable person he knew. Of course that man could pick him out of a crowd.

"Something about your eyes." The gypsy continued, "Yes, I see it now. There is no doubt." She nodded wisely. "You are the best person I've seen in years. I would say that without a doubt I can trust you with what I'm going to say next."

Kuwabara grinned, liking her more with each passing moment.

"I have a proposition for you." She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward confidentially.

…

The cave disappeared for Misaki. Everything disappeared for Misaki. She stood in darkness, unable to even see her hand in front of her face.

Way ahead of her a small pool of light with no obvious source shone faintly and so she walked towards it.

"Stop."

Misaki's feet were rooted to the ground, the pool of light no closer than it had been when she started out.

"Your lack of ability physically shall be tested mentally."

Misaki groaned. She knew the whole riddle episode wasn't over, she just knew it.

"Answer correctly or pay with your life."

"Same 'ole, same 'ole." Misaki sighed.

"The part of the bird, not in the sky, swims in the sea and yet remains dry."

Misaki and Eldred had once gone through a riddle phase and this was among the ones they asked one another.

"The shadow."

Misaki felt the floor beneath her move and the light was closer.

"What makes more noise dead than alive?"

Again, this was a familiar one.

"Leaves."

She moved along the floor again.

"What fills up a room, but take up no space?"

Surprised and pleased Misaki was that all of the riddles were ones she had heard before. "Air."

The light was obviously quite near.

"A man is caught by cannibals and in order to decide how they will kill him, they allow him to make one statement. If what he says is false, he will be boiled in oil. If what he says is true, he will be tossed into a bonfire. The man thinks for a moment, and then makes his statement. The cannibals are put into a bit of a bind by his words and they let him go. What did the man say?"

Misaki opened her mouth but she hadn't heard this one before. She supposed the man just changed sizes. _"Wait, what?" _

"Can you repeat the riddle?"

The riddle was said again. Definitely no mention of anything that had to do with changing sizes. What made her think of that?

Misaki shook her head, focusing more on the question. One statement.

"'You will boil me in oil.' If they do so, his statement will be true and they must throw him in the bonfire, thus making what he said false and forcing them to boil him in oil."

Misaki jerked her head around. She hadn't said anything!

The ground moved underneath her and she stood in the pool of light.

"I am tired of people answering my questions for me!" She shouted at no one in particular.

"Would you rather die and start all over again?"

"Oh no…" Misaki knew that voice. Velvety. Almost to the point of disturbance.

"I said, would you rather die and be forced to start all over again?"

Standing just at the edge of the light, face shadowed, was the man from Amureo's pool. The walking Jeopardy. The dragon who rampaged in her forest. The man who saved her life. And the man who took her arm.

"YOU!" Misaki shouted, remembering. "Give me my arm!"

"What?" He truly seemed confused.

Misaki marched over to him, death in her eyes, "Or should I rip off your own instead?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." He frowned, "And you still haven't answered my question."

"I would rather die." She answered it.

He stepped completely into the light, a small smile on his face, "You don't really mean that."

"Oh, I really do. I'd much prefer death to your presence."

"I'm flattered." He inclined his head slightly.

"Don't be." Her voice was flat.

His amethyst eyes shimmered in the light. There was something different about him. The last time they had met, just as Yukina stumbled to the step of Misaki's house, Misaki's sixth sense had been going off like crazy. This time he seemed calm and reposed.

"Now what's this about an arm? It appears to me that you have both of yours." He reached over brushed a hand against her new arm.

Eyes still glaring at him, she flinched involuntarily.

"I see." His gaze was knowing and he drew back his hand. "So it's new."

…

Cringing, Yusuke picked up the heart, trying to steel himself to the steady beat that now pulsed in his hand.

"It doesn't seem that taking it from you will be a problem. You're barely able to hold onto it now." The man kept advancing, Yusuke taking a step or two back.

"I've got it, why am I not leaving? I just gotta collect this item right? Well it's been collected." He tried not to make a face.

"I'm afraid that is only half of it. You have to defeat me in order to activate the portal that will take you back."

"That's exciting. You don't mind if I make this quick do you? I don't want to hold onto this any longer than I have to."

"By all means. 'Make this quick.'" The man shrugged.

Yusuke pointed his finger at the faceless man who regarded him thoughtfully.

"That's right. Just stand right there." Yusuke mumbled, smiling a little. "Spirit Gun!"

…

"Whaddya need from me little lady? I'll help yah in any way I can!" Kuwabara said gallantly, though he fought to keep his eyes open. He didn't want to be rude, but he was feeling quite tired.

"I never had a doubt that you would." She assured him.

The steam had lessened and to keep the mood she reached over and absently poured more water over the coals.

"Is there anyone here with you? I wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Oh, it's fine!" Kuwabara grinned, "It's only Urameshi. And Hiei. And Kurama." He counted on his fingers, "Oh, and Yukina! She's my favorite."

"So, what brings you here?"

"Well, you see," Kuwabara scratched his head, "You know…I don't really know. There were these people and they told us that we had to take Misaki…somewhere…"

"The Ansatsusha? She is with you?" The gypsy's voice was a trifle more anxious.

"Who? Oh! You mean Misaki? Yeah I guess people sometimes call her that." His mouth hung open in a stupor, "I don't really understand it though. Assassin? It doesn't make sense." He leaned forward confidentially, "Do you know why they call her that? I won't tell, honest!"

"You must have come here for the Oracle." The gypsy said absentmindedly.

"Yeah! That was it!" Kuwabara slouched back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. "The Oracle…"

The gypsy waved her hands over her crystal ball, giving a small gasp of astonishment.

"What? What!" Kuwabara exclaimed, gazing into the crystal.

"These…these people you are with… No, it can't be!" She looked again.

"What can't be?"

The gypsy glanced around suspiciously before crooking a finger at him and gesturing him closer. "I only tell you this because I care. These people that you are with…they're going to kill you."

"What?"

She shook her head sadly, "They're afraid that you're going to find the Oracle before them, that you will be the hero of the story!"

"I am the hero of the story!" Kuwabara stuck out his chest.

Taking a deep breath, she considered him gravely. "I have never met one like you. And so I will do this thing for you. I will get rid of the others. You will be able to find the Oracle, unhindered! Your praises will be sung throughout all history!"

…

"What do you want?" Misaki demanded.

"I'll give you what you want, if you agree to do something for me."

"A trade?" Misaki wasn't about to fall for any cheap tricks. Not now. Her guard was up.

"Yes, I suppose 'trade' is a decent enough word for it." He agreed.

"What could you possibly have that I want?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Information."

She scoffed, "I think it would be wise to take anything you say with a grain of salt."

"Then, what about relieving you of a bit of your mortality?"

Misaki was all ears for that one. Was he serious?

"I guess that could be considered to hold some sort of value with me." She didn't want to let him know that he had her right where he wanted her. She would do basically anything for him at that moment. "But then, what could I give you in return?"

He took a step closer, uncrossing his arms from his chest.

Her stance shifted, defenses raised almost automatically. He could sense this.

"I harbor nothing against you." He raised his hands so that they were in view.

Misaki's posture didn't change.

He shrugged. "I know what lies in your path. There are six of you, too many to be taken across the waters. And the air is dangerous, you know this."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I can give you dragon's blood."

Misaki didn't doubt that, considering his true form. But dragon's blood was fickle.

"I'm offering it to you, it comes freely. Thus, it will do you no harm."

She had heard this. If dragon's blood was stolen from the dragon without its permission, the result was deadly. If the dragon offered, a high honor, then the blood would grant…well, that part of it remained a mystery that most did not know. And others had searched hard for the answer, Misaki thought irritatingly.

"With what you are, the blood will react differently with you than with others. I'm sure you can guess at the result, but it will not last long as your body will burn through it rather quickly. However, what it leaves behind is what interests you the most: it will restore a little of your former power."

"Only a little?" Misaki knew exactly what the 'result' would be.

He nodded, "You will no longer be mortal, but I would not suggest any great undertakings."

"What if it doesn't restore any power?"

"It will." He assured her, "But in the odd case that it doesn't, you are no worse for the ware as I am offering it."

Misaki considered his words. She couldn't see anything wrong with that. "Again I ask, what would I do for you?"

"A simple task. Leave this place." He gestured around him, "Continue to the Oracle."

"That is not all." There had to be something else. There was always something else. It was never that easy. And yet her body ached with the knowledge that even a part of her mortality could be banished, the solution standing not half a meter away.

"I admit that there is more to it than that. Essentially, I wish for you to carry my blood out of the cave."

She still remained suspicious. "So, I drink blood, your side of the deal, and I take blood with me, my side."

"No, you misunderstand." He smiled, the facets of his eyes glowing, "All of that is your part of the trade. The drinking, the taking. My part is the information I offered before."

Misaki couldn't see anything wrong with it, and she scrutinized it well. He got the bad end of the deal. She got rid of some of her mortality and she got information that she apparently wanted. Even if the information was worthless, she still got the blood.

"Deal?" He held out his hand.

"Deal." She shook it, noticing that he was kind enough to let her shake with her good hand.

"Wonderful." He smiled again.

* * *

-lotsm


	22. Oracle Arc:: Leaving the Cave

A/N: So, when I was first writing this, I had REAL author's notes! Can you imagine that? Most of the time it was just apologies for not updating. I think for this chapter the apology had to do with the huge paper I had to do.

O/C21: Yusuke is still fighting, the gypsy woman has a proposition for Kuwabara and Misaki meets up with the guy from Amureo's Pool, the one who just recently stole her arm. He offers to rid her of a bit of her mortality and gives an offer that Misaki cannot refuse…

* * *

The faceless man, while he appeared surprised though it was hard to tell since he had no face, easily dodged Yusuke's spirit gun attack. The blue orb dissipated into the wall, leaving a lovely black scorch mark.

Turning back to Yusuke, the man smiled, "That was a pleasant surprise. Here I thought this would be easy."

"Heh. Common mistake." Yusuke lowered his hand.

"I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Arishima."

"Yusuke. Though I don't see why it's going to matter."

"I just thought you ought to know the name of the person who killed you."

"You know, I hear that a lot, but look, I'm still alive." Yusuke grinned. He was momentarily distracted from the squishy mass in his hand, but it was still there. "Aw man. This is gross. Is there any place I can put this thing?"

"I'm afraid not. I was kind the last time you dropped it and didn't pick it up for myself. I won't be so kind the next time."

"Lemme guess. If you pick it up, I die."

"However did you know?" Arishima smiled a little.

"It seems to be the general theme around here. 'Do this, die.' 'Don't do this, die.'"

"It is rather tedious I suppose, but we can't have just anybody going to see the Oracle. One with such high status can't be bothered with ridiculous questions.

"If you don't mind, what say you to us getting started?"

Yusuke shrugged, "I'm game."

"Some how I'm not surprised to hear you say that."

Arishima disappeared, leaving Yusuke scanning the cave around him for any sign of where the no-face was at.

He felt a surge of energy coming from behind him and he dodged left, rolling over a shoulder and remaining crouched over the ground, one hand holding the heart and the other resting lightly on the cave floor.

Yusuke glanced over his shoulder, but didn't see anything. He stood up again, his eyes in constant movement around the room.

He couldn't see Arishima, but he could feel the odd energy that the being emitted. However, the energy pulsed throughout the entire cave and Yusuke was unable to get a lock on Arishima's exact position.

Arishima appeared right in front of Yusuke and began throwing punches.

Yusuke blocked as fast as he could with one arm, keeping a good hold on the heart in his other hand. He wasn't even able to retaliate with punches of his own.

After a moment or two, Arishima pulled back.

"I'm afraid with that heart in your possession, your skills are quite lacking." He regarded Yusuke with an amused expression.

"Oh yeah? Let's see you block one-handed."

"You could just give me the heart."

"That would solve all of my problems." Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"Technically, yes. Yes, it would. You wouldn't ever have any problems again."

"Well let's see, could that possibly be because I'd be…hm let me think about this…dead?"

"Yes, that might have something to do with it."

"I'd rather not then."

"Suit yourself. I have a feeling I'm going to get the heart back soon anyway."

"You think so?"

"Yes." Arishima flew at Yusuke again but Yusuke locked onto his position this time, not letting the strange being out of his sight.

Arishima pulled back an arm, hands curled into a fist. Yusuke brought up his fore arm on that side and held it next to the side of his face…and Arishima attacked with the other arm.

He sent Yusuke spinning in the air across the room.

"That was pretty good, old man." Yusuke chuckled once, wiping blood from his lip, "Act like you're attacking one way and then punch the other."

"You are holding the heart with that hand," Arishima pointed to the heart in his grasp, "It leaves your side wide open."

Thoughtfully, Yusuke tossed it into the air, catching it as it fell. After about the third time, he tossed it into the other hand and rushed at Arishima. He knew he would only get one punch in, seeing as how one hand was occupied, and he meant to make it count.

He faded to the side and dashed up, full force of his body behind the swing. His fist made a satisfying crack, but against Arishima's block and not his face as Yusuke planned.

"You have a bad habit of using all of your strength with one attack it seems." Arishima turned his face toward Yusuke, smiling what was an eerie, no-faced smile. "And it leaves you with no back-up plan."

Arishima swung his body around and kicked into Yusuke's ribs, on the side holding the heart of course.

His smile weakened when he saw that it had no affect on the boy.

Yusuke stood with his arm latched over Arishima's shin. Smirking, he delivered a solid blow to Arishima's jaw, spit and blood flying out of the no-face's mouth.

Retaliating quickly, Arishima brought his other foot around, aiming for Yusuke's head.

Expecting this, Yusuke ducked, punching now at Arishima's stomach.

Yusuke couldn't help the smirk that settled onto his lips. He threw the heart high in the air, and then flung Arishima at the wall, running after him and beginning to pummel him with his fists.

After only a few seconds of this, Yusuke dodged back to where he had been standing before, holding out his palm as the heart landed back neatly into it.

The heart began to glow and a circle of white light formed around him.

…

"Get rid…of the others?" Kuwabara's eyes cleared a little. "You're…going to kill my friends?"

The gypsy woman in front of him ladled more water over the coals, releasing more of the heavy steam into the air.

"No, my good man! Not your friends! I would never even dream of touching your friends." She leaned close, her voice like silk, "I only wish to rid you of your enemies."

His facial expression proved how much he was obviously struggling with the concept. "Enemies…?"

The steam in the room was overpowering, but there was no warmth to it.

"Yes. Your enemies. Those who stand in the way of your glory! Those whom you are with even now!"

"But…Urameshi…and Kurama…"

"Betray them, Kuwabara. Before they betray you."

"No!" Kuwabara knocked the ladle out of her hand as she reached for more water from the bucket and he fought against the fog that settled over his mind. "T-They are loyal! I will not betray them!"

He stood up, his eyes furiously burning into her own, "We have the trust of friends, comrades-in-arms! But you!" He slammed his hands down onto the table between them, leaning towards her.

The crystal ball rolled off the table and rested at the ground near his feet.

"You are the one who would betray! And you would take me down with you! There is no honor in you!"

The hag cowered in fear before him, the gaudily painted nails glimmering as she covered her face with her hands.

A white circle of light lit up the ground around Kuwabara.

…

"I will give you the information first as after you receive blood, neither of us will be in any condition to comprehend anything."

"I have one question for you."

"Just one?"

"You seem to know who I am, however you came about that knowledge, and yet I haven't the faintest idea who you are. I keep referring to you as 'the mysterious man' for lack of a better pronoun."

He looked amused.

"May I have a name to go with your face?"

"Names are made of powerful stuff, Ansatsusha."

"Just tell me your stupid name."

"Drake."

"Drake. Alright them, 'Drake.' What is this 'information' you have for me?"

"Someone in your family has committed a crime unforgivable and a great evil has been unleashed because of it."

No duh. Misaki knew this. He was most likely referring to her. She didn't get the name 'Ansatsusha' for dressing in frills and doing the cha-cha.

Trusting him about as far as she could throw him, Misaki didn't dwell on the information he gave her. In her current state, she didn't think she could even pick him up. He was freakishly tall.

Drake eyed her for a moment though whether with suspicion or something else, she wasn't unable to tell.

"Your turn." He said after a moment. He phased in and out, arcs of electricity snapping around him, the air around him becoming blurry.

In place of the human that was Drake, an enormous black dragon appeared before her. His wings stretched upward, far beyond their now miniscule pool of light, his body mostly curving off into the darkness around them.

He snorted once, a puff of electric cloud emitting from his nostrils.

Misaki's memories immediately flashed back to the battle she held with this beast and she crouched, every muscle awaiting any command.

Intelligent amethyst eyes considered her and he lay down on his stomach like a sphinx, huge claws only a meter from her face. His tail snaked into the light, just the tip visible. It swished once thoughtfully.

"There is a small blade over there made for this." He gestured lazily with one claw, voice rumbling quietly in the air. "Retrieve it."

She was curious as to how he could still talk in words. Perhaps he was just making her think that he was actually talking out loud.

Not daring to disobey or offend such a domineering being, Misaki walked in the direction he indicated without protest and picked up a dagger that she found.

"Yes, that's the one. Come here."

Obediently Misaki returned to his side, waiting his next order.

Even the claws he had dwarfed her and the top of his arm rose high above her head. Was he bigger this time?

The immense dragon shifted his forearm, plunging his claws of the arm closest to her deeply into the ground.

"Stab. But stab against the direction of the scales."

Of course, the scales would be going in a direction that would make it easier to use the new arm Misaki had. She sighed a little, brandishing the dagger with her good arm anyway and just taking an awkward angle.

The miniature sword sliced right through like the scales were melted butter and Misaki felt his muscles contracted underneath the tip.

The wound wasn't a large one but the blood hissed as it came in contact with the blade. The area around the gash turned an awful yellow color.

"You don't have to keep it in there." His lips pulled back in a snarl, sharp, large gleaming teeth winking at her. "Take it out."

Careful not to make the cut any larger, Misaki pulled it out. The yellow color was quickly spreading over his entire arm.

The once silver steel of the dagger had been blackened by his blood.

"Quickly. Ingest some."

There were still a few drops that had not dried to black hanging onto the tip of the weapon and Misaki licked them, especially careful not to slice her tongue off.

The dagger clattered to the ground as she grabbed for her throat.

She would have screamed if not for the scalding blood that burned at her esophagus. Misaki's throat closed and she couldn't breath. Seconds past, seeming like an eternity.

And then it stopped.

A relieving liquid coated the inside of her damaged throat, repairing and soothing it.

It took Misaki a moment to realize that the blood tasted like nothing she had ever tasted; sweet and spicy, sour and salty. All at the same time. It would be a flavor she never forget.

Slowly getting up from where she dropped to the floor, she saw that Drake was on his side, his huge chest heaving as he struggled to breathe. All of his scales had that nasty yellow tint to them, smoke rose from his nostrils and his once intelligent, bright eyes now appeared dull.

"Take…take the dagger with you…"

Misaki picked it up.

"Stab it into the ground. I bet you can't find the right place." His mouth hung open, his tongue uselessly hanging out the side but there was a hint of challenge and smile to his words.

"And I bet I can." Her eyes narrowed.

Drake's body began to glow and shrink, continuing to diminish in size until he was small enough to carry in one hand.

An elegant black-onyx figurine with amethyst eyes, poised like a sphinx of old, rested on the floor in his place.

Misaki put the dagger in the belt of her hakama pants for safekeeping, picking up the statuette.

A white circle of light glowed underneath her feet.

…

"How is he?" Misaki asked, her body still phasing into the cave.

Kurama stood as the three circles suddenly glowed a pure white, "Misaki, she just slipped into some sort of trance." Kurama sounded urgent. "She's weak."

Kuwabara ran over to Yukina, shaking her shoulders, "Yukina? Yukina!"

The girl didn't answer , her eyes blankly staring forward, her hands still healing Hiei.

"Kuwabara! Grab her hands!" Misaki dashed for them, "Get them away from Hiei!"

Kuwabara gently took Yukina's hands in his own.

"You idiot, she's going to die, don't be nice about it!" Misaki exclaimed, shoving him out of the way. She jerked Yukina back, "Stupid girl!"

In her arms, the koorime's eyes fluttered before they began registering the cave, and Misaki looked over her with concern.

Her face was white as a sheet and her skin was clammy, her breath coming in raspy pants.

"Is he healed?"

"You could have killed yourself." Misaki's eyes narrowed.

"I was just trying to help-"

"You will help no one if it requires you to sacrifice yourself in the process, especially not someone like…" Misaki glanced at Hiei, not finishing her sentence.

Yukina's eyes filled with tears.

"As soon as his condition was stable, you should have stopped." She looked back at the girl.

"What's your problem, Misaki?" Yusuke made a face at her.

"She was doing what you told her too!" Kuwabara protested angrily.

"Hm. Interesting." Kurama said from behind them.

Their attention wavered from the situation to what Kurama was talking about. Yukina tenderly sat up to see.

The three other objects now floated up into the air with the others, the onyx dragon with amethyst eyes, a diamond ball and an emerald heart. They rotated mesmerizingly in a circle above the group, the cave beginning to shimmer and change.

Everything dissolved into mist around them and a moment later the mist disappeared, the cave disappearing with it.

They were standing on solid rock. It was actually a rock shore, an endless sea lapping around them.

Behind the group was the cave, or at least an entrance into a cave but they all had enough of caves for a while.

The rock shore created a small island around them. A desolate island in the middle of the sea. But not quite completely desolate.

Five stone statues were a few feet in front of them. From the left, there were two birds—a hawk, a raven—then a pedestal, then two more birds—an eagle, a falcon.

Each bird was carved into a different position, one preening its feathers, another looking back at the sea. They stood about five feet off the ground, rather large for birds, but they looked so real that they might turn their heads to stare at the newcomers any moment.

* * *

-lotsm


	23. Oracle Arc:: Out of the Frying Pan

A/N: The only problem with going back and editing stuff is that I'm erasing all of these good, juicy author's notes. Yeah. I know. You don't care. And you know what's sad? I don't really care either.

O/C22: Yusuke, Kuwabara and Misaki all overcome their trials and once the objects they were sent to retrieve are combined with the others, the cave dissipates around them and they are standing on a stone island in the middle of a sea. There are five stone statues in front of them; from left to right a hawk, a raven, a pedestal, an eagle and a falcon.

* * *

Misaki took a deep breath, closing her eyes. The sea, the wind crashing waves onto the shore, the salty air. The heartbeats. Misaki smiled.

Drake had spoken the truth. Part of her mortality had been erased, her senses now heightened so that she was able to truly take in what was around her. She had missed the heartbeats most of all.

"Wow, these things are pretty life-like!"

"And huge!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara were inspecting the bird statues, Kurama examining the words etched onto the pedestal. Yukina stood over Hiei, her faced lined with worry. Misaki saw her, watching carefully for a moment to make sure that the girl wasn't going to try and heal him any more. They might need her powers later. Hiei was sleeping peacefully now, his body overexerted from the healing combined with the use of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

"Misaki." Kurama called to her.

She walked up next to him where he stood over the pedestal.

"Not exciting." Was her first, depressed impression.

"More of the language of the stones. But I do not recognize this symbol." He pointed to it. "Based on the context I would assume it means 'speak'."

Misaki's eyes scanned the pedestal's engravings, only able to get the main gist of what the language said. "I would agree, I suppose."

Her nose was bombarded by his smell and since it had been such a long time since her senses had been so good, she wasn't able to control it. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. He smelled really good.

"Hey, so what do we do now?"

"How do we get off this stinking island?"

Now bored as they had finished their inspection of the statues and the island consisted of little else, Kuwabara and Yusuke came over to the other two.

"If I'm correct, these birds will take us to where the Oracle is." Kurama gestured with a hand, encompassing the statues.

"I hate to burst your bubble Kurama, but rocks don't float." Yusuke looked out at the sea which stretched beyond the horizon.

"What about churches? Maybe gravy?" Misaki gave him a dry look.

"A duck!" Kuwabara exclaimed, entirely too pleased with himself.

"Yes, but a stone duck would not." Yusuke pointed out. "And these statues are all made of stone."

"We aren't going to just throw them in the water and ride them." Misaki said, annoyed.

"Well good, because it wouldn't work. That's what I was saying."

Misaki gave an exasperated sigh at his Cheshire grin.

"I believe we have to reanimate them." Kurama concluded.

"And then ask them to take us to shore?" Kuwabara scratched his head.

"Yes, Kuwabara, that seems right." Kurama turned to Misaki and smiled, "Would you like to do the honors?"

"I'm sure you could figure out how to pronounce the reanimation." Misaki waved a hand at him dismissively.

"I'm sure that I already know how, but you should go ahead."

"Cocky spirit vessel." Misaki muttered.

"I prefer the term precise."

"I'll bet you would." Misaki looked over the words at the bottom of the writing. It had been an extremely long time since she had tried to speak the language, much more since she'd succeeded in any way, shape or form.

She placed her hands on either side of the pedestal, the others taking a step back as Kurama did.

Curious, Yukina came up beside them, having seen that Hiei was merely sleeping, his condition stable.

The words were quiet and hesitant, gravely sounding, Misaki referencing the pedestal the whole time. A glow of light began at her fingertips, slowly growing in brightness and then shooting down the pedestal into the ground.

She took her hands off, waiting with bated breath.

Everyone tried to look at all of the statues at the same time, their eyes flickering between them.

But nothing happened.

Misaki grumbled curses under her breath, going back up to the pedestal and examining the writing again as she put her hands back onto it.

Something struck her and she was flung backwards, smacking into the side of the cave that jutted out of the ground behind them before falling on her face.

"Hey, are you-"

"Don't move." Misaki advised, pushing herself up on her hands as Yusuke took a step towards her. She wiped a fist across her lower lip where blood now leaked, standing shakily as her mind cleared from the impact.

Their heads snapped back to the statues when they heard something.

Like a piece of newspaper set on fire, the stone licked back from the birds, slow at first and then picking up speed. The light that went out from the pedestal now glowed at the bottom of each statue.

As more of their bodies came free, the birds began to move. Their feathers ruffled in the wind, their heads turning this way and that, finally their claws shifting their weight back and forth.

After a moment of moving about once they were completely free, the eagle spoke up, the other birds scrutinizing each person in turn.

"Greetings, Stone-talker." The eagle's voice came from deep within his chest. He spread his wings and then took a step back, bowing his body so that his wings rose behind him in a regal bow. The other three did the same.

Misaki walked forward, spreading her arms to the side when she reached them and moving one foot behind the other in a human version of the same bow. She grimaced as soon as she did so, her head reeling, and she dropped the bow before the birds did to rub her sore arm. Drake's blood may have rid her of some of the pain of the limb but it was still quite sensitive.

"You called us forth for passage across this vast ocean." The raven croaked.

"And passage you shall receive, you who have awakened us." The falcon sounded lighter, more sleek.

"But whom dost thou request we carry?" One golden eye of the eagle swept over everyone as he turned his head to the side.

"We ask for transport, noble ones." Misaki waved at hand to include those behind her.

The birds considered them, their intelligent gaze piercing and severe.

Finally the falcon nodded. "So it shall be."

"As we cannot carry you on our backs," The hawk's face was fierce but there was a great brightness to his eyes as he looked at them, revealing the amusement he found at the prospect, "You must form together with us, fly with us."

"Our minds to your minds, our thoughts to your thoughts." Misaki said; it seemed recited.

Suddenly the birds were looking skyward, out and beyond the island they stood on, behind the gang. Everyone else automatically turned around.

In the distance, something glittered.

"Quickly!" The eagle was urgent.

Misaki hesitantly put her hands back on the pedestal, but when she found that she wasn't blasted backwards, her grip became more sure.

Again she spoke, though it was still slow. She was not in the mood to have to start over.

The group felt a tugging sensation come over their bodies and their vision closed in. They began to get dizzy, their eyes blurry and they felt themselves falling, but they never reached the ground.

Kurama's eyes opened to see the blue ocean rushing underneath him. Wind flowed through his wings as he instinctively adjusted single feathers to compensate for the direction and speed. The sun was bright in the sky but there was a downcast feeling to the air.

_"Amazing." _He was in wonderment at the intricacies of flying that he had never imagined.

_"Flight always thrills." _He heard the falcon say in his head.

_"I never knew it took so much concentration."_

_ "It would appear that it does but we are born knowing. It only takes it a while to figure it out." _A memory of the falcon as a nestling trying out his wings flashed into Kurama's head, mixed with an amused emotion at the remembrance.

Kurama looked this way and that, his head, or rather he and the falcon's head, trying to take in all the sights.

_"Careful now. We are being chased."_

_ "By whom?"_

The falcon turned their head so that Kurama could see behind them.

Kurama felt his vision shift and he wanted to shake his head but then the focus cleared and it was zoomed in on the glittering shape behind them. Kurama and the falcon's heart began to beat faster.

Yusuke could feel the spray of the sea in the air around him as he took a dive, speeding down towards the water. At the last second he turned his body to the side, dipping the very tip of one of his wings into the whitecaps. His thoughts felt much higher than those around him, more superior. His eyes pierced the horizon, his feathers waving in the flow of the wind.

He soared higher until he was above the others, surveying all beneath him.

_"I suit you." _He heard the majestic voice of the eagle ring true in his head.

_"What's chasing us?"_

The eagle did not answer but their speed increased.

All four birds sped up, tearing swiftly towards the horizon at a still out-of-sight destination. And yet each bird knew that their pursuer was gaining exponentially on them.

Everyone could hear the monstrous roar in their heightened hearing.

Unable to contain their passengers' sense of curiosity, the birds stopped, soaring and hovering in mid-air in one place above the water. They saw what was chasing them and they trembled.

Glinting more golden than the bright sun overhead, a huge dragon, its wing span around fifty meters from tip to tip, shot towards them. They could tell by the speed and the dangerous look in its eyes that it was not trying to catch up to exchange pleasantries.

The hawk's piercing cry echoed in their minds and ears.

_"Quickly! We must fly!"_

The four birds overrode their passengers' freeze and turned tail, flying towards the horizon.

The dragon gained more quickly than before.

_"What can we do?" _Kurama asked the falcon, feeling as though he was shouting to be heard over the wind that whistled around them

_"Nothing!" _The falcon shouted back at him, _"We cannot fight this! It is beyond any of us! We are defeated before we begin!"_

Kurama heard a snarl behind him and felt their tail feathers singe. He glanced back, seeing the deathly anger in the dragon's multifaceted, swirling eyes.

_"Do not look back!" _The falcon commanded, Kurama setting his gaze on the direction in which they were streamlining.

Their hearts lurched again as a looming shadow blocked the hazy sunlight above them, its shadow engulfing their own reflected on the sea below.

The dragon roared again and this time they could feel the rattle of the air in their very bones.

They all felt it take a deep breath, lungs expanding. The shadow receded as the dragon soared higher above them, aiming its mouth so that it could envelop them all in one fiery swoop.

Just as the fire licked past its jaws, something slammed into the gold's side, heading off its aim.

The blast of fire was intense, despite the fact that it swept wide to the right of them, the heat overbearing for a moment.

The birds were unable to contain their passengers' collective curiosity at the situation when the dragon did not follow after them. And so they all turned once more, soaring in the air.

An enormous black dragon had joined the golden one. The two fought fiercely, the black blocking the gold's path to the birds.

They slammed together brusquely, big, muscular bodies straining as they grappled in the air. Claws scraped against hard scales, making an awful noise. Teeth tore into flesh, though all of the wounds were small, one or the other swerving away just as it was caught.

The gold shot up high, the black giving chase, staying in between gold and the birds.

Suddenly gold seized black again, pinning black's arms and wings against its sides, then immediately turned in the air, pulling them both into a death spiral towards the awaiting ocean.

Black struggled fearlessly but gold had the upper hand. Gold wove their tails together, snarling angrily as black tried to use the tail to get free. The sunlight reflected and refracted on their entwined bodies, sparkling in a treacherously beautiful way.

_"We must flee!" _The raven called, _"While we have the chance!" _

None of them wanted to turn from the awe-inspiring, titanic battle, their eyes glued. But the birds were the ones who in the end were able to force a turn-around, eager to place as much distance between the two battlers as possible. If even one of the beasts dove into the sea, it would shoot so much water in the air that the birds would quite possibly be soaked, unable to fly at all.

Behind them the struggle continued, the situation unchanging. Black thrashed about violently as the looming ocean came closer, their speed increasing.

At the last possible second, gold let go of black, propelling the black dragon down into the water before pulling up out of the dive, barely skimming the sea's surface as the huge splash sent waves bellowing outwards on the sea.

Undistracted, gold shot for the birds once more, belly almost touching the water as it tucked its arms and legs close to its body to increase its aerodynamic flight. The sea was swept back with every beat of its humongous wings, the waves meeting and crashing with the already huge waves created by the dive, the impact of the two sending water snapping high into the air.

The eagle allowed Yusuke to turn their head back to see if the black dragon had been able to free itself. They exclaimed worriedly to the others their findings in a vicious eagle-cry as they turned back to the horizon. Everyone pushed their bodies harder, faster. They had to reach shore. But by this time, both bird and passenger were growing weary, having exerted so much already in their flight.

Kurama felt the dragon's teeth snap mere centimeters from he and the falcon's tail feathers and the shock gave them a sudden burst of speed. Kurama's mind only briefly wondered at how all four birds were traveling at the same breakneck speed as these four birds should not have been going at the same pace at their top speed.

_"I'm afraid you're grouping us together with the birds you have already experienced in your lifetime. We are not those birds." _Despite their danger, both Kurama and the falcon, well suited for one another, could hold a relatively intellectual conversation as if there wasn't a golden dragon nearly on their backs chasing them down to kill them.

But neither of them knew how long everyone could keep up this pace and the raven was already slowing.

All four birds came closer together, the stream of their bodies and their beating wings giving them a little relief from the harsh flight. They flew tip to tip, scattering only when the gold dragon swatted a claw in the midst of them, coming back together almost immediately.

And suddenly there was a large swoosh of water and the black dragon shot out of the sea just behind them to hover just shy of the water, their golden enemy unable to slow down or veer out of the way.

Gold's head slammed into the black dragon's chest, an obvious rush of air forced out of the black's mouth.

They both parted, gold's head reeling from the impact and black hunched over in an attempt to breathe again, their wings beating steadily to keep them in the air.

Seeing an opening, black soared forward before fully recovering, hoping to catch gold off guard.

Gold saw the incoming attack but was unable to dodge properly, only limping in the air out of the way.

The black dragon turned to the side, hooking the claw on the top of its wing into the fleshy material of gold's wing, and jerking upwards. The wing easily tore under the claw.

Gold cried out in surprise, pain in its head forgotten. Before black could fly away, gold latched on as it started to lose altitude.

The black dragon strained to stay in the air, but gold was determined to pull them both into the sea. Huge, gorgeous wings that glittered with water droplets beat in fierce agitation, the ocean below responding from the large gusts of wind, crashing waves together.

Both dragons on one set of wings was becoming too much.

For the second time, the black dragon was desperately trying to disengage the gold one. And like the first time, it was failing.

The four birds were quite far away now, hovering in the air again and watching, amazed, from a distance as the two monstrosities slowly began sinking towards the sea.

With the falcon's focused eyes, Kurama noticed that one front leg for the black dragon appeared newer then the others, the scales cleaner and brighter.

They watched as finally the black dragon, weak from the effort, dropped its wings to its body, letting the two of them crash into the foaming sea, a massive splash arching into the air.

Bodies tense, the birds watched keenly for any sign of either creature, a stirring of the water, anything.

One-by-one they wheeled off again, the eagle first, the others following.

As they realized they truly were safe, the gang's spirits lifted and they began to play, dipping and soaring through the air and finally understanding the joy of flight.

They flew slowly, recovering their strength and their wits from their close calls.

_"Woo-hoo!" _Yusuke shouted, the eagle crying out his enjoyment as it shot up in the air, turning as fast as he could before sweeping back down at the sea in a speedy dive.

_"Yeah! This is awesome!" _The hawk's shriek conveyed Kuwabara's words to the others.

_"Misaki, I have to say that this is probably the coolest thing ever!" _The eagle screeched happily.

The other birds translated the words for their passengers, this being the way they all were able to communicate with one another.

Kurama had known all along what the others only now realized.

The others were waiting for some dry remark from one of the birds, indicating that Misaki had heard them, but there was none.

The eagle called them to a halt.

_"Misaki?"_

The birds looked at one another intelligently, but there was still no response.

_"Okay. Quick roll-call. Kuwabara?"_

The hawk called out.

_"Okay, Kurama?"_

The falcon responded.

_"Yukina?"_

The raven.

_"Wait…so if I'm with the eagle…"_

_ "It means Hiei is not among us either. No one can carry more than one passenger?"_ Kurama asked through the falcon.

The answer was a negative. They could only carry one mind with them.

_"Then where is…and…" _The eagle's head shifted around, searching the skies as if another bird could be hiding among the clouds.

_"We cannot stop any longer." _The eagle said, _"We must keep moving before our time with you runs out." _

Reluctantly, they all started out again.

They no longer played in the sky, everyone searching the air for any sign of the other two.

The sea grew colder and the air slackened off, making it harder for them to find updrafts to soar on. No one talked as they concentrated on staying in the sky.

Their hearts sank when the sun above them was blotted out, an enormous shadow engulfing theirs in the sea. Their muscles wound tight as they prepared to flee again.

* * *

Heheh. Ten points and maybe sweet snow to anybody who knows what movie reference is made near the first part of the chapter.

-lotsm


	24. Oracle Arc:: Arrival at the Island

A/N: Oh despair, oh horror. Oh pitiless pain. You have no idea what I went through with this chapter. I was about halfway finished editing it (and I was so proud of it, it was turning out wonderfully) and I lost it. Yeah. It was really my fault I guess but I was so devastated. It took me a lot to come back and do this all over again. And it definitely isn't as good as it was…I can't believe…I just can't believe that I lost it… -sob-

Edit: That Author's Note is from when I first started editing these chapters, so like 3 years ago? I remember this day though: for some reason when I exited out of Word, it didn't ask me to save, it just exited. So I lost what I thought was the best conversation I could have written for Hiei and Misaki and I loved their interaction within it. What you'll read here is, within my mind, still just an echo of what I had originally written and originally intended. Ah, well.

O/C23: A golden dragon chases the gang down as they fly across the sea, though a battle erupts between it and another black dragon. The pair plunges into the ocean, leaving everyone safe. Or so they thought. A shadow has just blotted out the sun…

* * *

Kurama apprehensively turned the gaze of the falcon upwards, afraid to find that they had been finally overtaken by the golden dragon. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not the gold dragon who overshadowed them, but the black one. He smiled.

The others did not know what to expect of this black dragon and so they cautiously continued their flight towards the horizon, struggling against the lack of updrafts. Their wings beat desperately in the air to keep them in the sky.

The overhead shadow backed off and then the scaly body of the dragon appeared beneath them. They were caught in the rising heat radiating off of the dragon's super hot body, soaring without effort.

Yusuke spotted Hiei asleep between two evil looking spikes jutting out of the back of the dragon's spine and the eagle screeched his surprise.

The dragon turned its head to consider him amusingly with one bright, green eye.

_"Misaki!" _Kuwabara called out through the hawk.

_"So any dragon with a green eye is automatically Misaki?" _Yusuke told him suspiciously.

_"Maybe he can just tell that it's me." _A wry voice spoke into all of their minds at once.

_"Misaki?"_

_"No, it's the postman. Here to deliver your small package. …of course it's me, you numbskull." _The dragon snorted, black tendrils of smoke rising up from her nostrils.

_"How did you manage to change into a dragon?" _Kurama asked.

_"Very painfully." _The lips of the dragon curled back in an unnerving grimace that revealed rows of sharp teeth.

Kurama had known almost from the start that Misaki was not with them and while he had wondered how she would follow, he had not expected her to come in this way. Considering the end-result, he approved of the way she handled the situation: she knew she would turn into a dragon, or knew how to turn into a dragon, so she had the birds take Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina and himself. She carried Hiei on her back since the fire youkai was immune to the searing effect contact with her skin would have on the others.

_"I got lucky."_

Somehow Kurama knew that Misaki wasn't letting anyone else hear their conversation.

_"What do you mean?"_

_ "I had no idea I was going to change like this. I just gestured to you all so that the birds would take you. I kind of…"_

_ "Forgot about Hiei?"_

_ "…um, yeah. I had to go back and get him. Thankfully, he was still unconscious. I don't think he would have been too happy with me."_

_ "I don't think he'll be happy with you either way."_

_ "True."_

_ "…Could we not mention this tidbit of information to him when he wakes up?"_

Kurama's chuckle resonated quite merrily, _"I suppose that would set back you all's progress. As you wish."_

_"Wait...what?"_

Kurama didn't answer, but Misaki could feel his thoughts smiling.

The traveling was much quicker now, what with Misaki's warm body underneath them. Her wings beat steadily through the air and she pulled them along in her wake much faster than they could have gone on their own.

Something flickered at the edge of the horizon.

_"Land." _She told the others, her eyesight as a dragon keener, _"We'll be there soon."_

The hawk's sad cry expressed the emotion all of the ones flying felt.

Misaki felt her heart lurch, suddenly struggling to pump blood through her body. She faltered in the air, a wing skimming the ocean before she righted herself, shaking her head.

_"Misaki?" _Kuwabara said through the hawk.

She almost answered when she wavered midair again, a flash of searing pain spindling through her body. She took a wobbly breath.

_"Misaki…you're fading." _Kurama noted.

Winking back and forth minimally between human and dragon form, Misaki felt as though her ribcage was going to explode.

Her wings straining, Misaki shot forward, outdistancing the others within seconds as she desperately flew for shore. If she changed back now, Hiei would be dropped into the ocean below, at the mercy of the currents.

All her concentration was on reaching that shoreline looming closer from the distance. A strange, burning and freezing sensation started at her wingtips, moving inward towards her heart.

The shift between forms came faster, and she knew the landing wouldn't be pretty.

_"Hiei!"_

_ "What?" _He asked from somewhere deep inside his consciousness, aggravated at being disturbed.

_"I need you to jump off, get clear!"_

The Jagan forced Hiei awake and his eyes shot open, quickly calculating the situation at hand.

As soon as he could, he leapt into the air, landing on the island and rolling to absorb the impact. He turned, still crouched over and skating backwards on the solid stone shore a good distance before stopping, just in time to see a black dragon careen into the island headfirst.

A grunt of pain from the dragon's mouth turned into one from Misaki's as a wing caught on the stone and flipped her. She bounced painfully, unable to regain her balance as her dragon form finally, truly gave way to the human one which rolled twice more and then rested facedown on the stone beach.

Trembling, Misaki was thankful that no bones were broken as she slowly shifted around to get her hands in position to push her up. There was at least one knot on her head and her body was covered with scrapes. However, neither the hakama pants nor hitatare top Coahtu gave her had holes.

Two black-booted feet appeared by her head and her eyes traveled up to see Hiei standing over her, unreadable expression on his face. A hand was offered.

She took it and he pulled her to her feet without much effort.

"Sorry." She noticed the blood on his palm when she let go and she glanced her wrists and fingers. She was bleeding, though it was minimal since they were only scrapes. Her shoulder was throbbing again, the whole arm having hit the ground hard several times.

Hiei didn't answer, turning to survey the island around them. They stood a few meters from shore, a huge impenetrable forest ominously leering in the center. There was a clear path of the shoreline extending in either direction around it, probably to the other side of the island Hiei assumed, but there appeared to be no path through the trees.

Four birds wheeled in from the distance, still riding the heat the body of the dragon left behind.

When they reached the shore, each one elegantly made a landing onto the beach, claws scraping against the stone as they clipped forward a bit before halting.

"My thanks, winged ones." Misaki bowed gratefully to them.

The eagle took a step forward, "We must do our duty as you must do yours."

There was a flash of light and Kuwabara, Kurama, Yusuke, and Yukina stepped out of their respective birds into human form.

Magnificently, the eagle arched its wings upward before sweeping them down, inclining its head, moving one leg back and dipping downward in an elaborate bow. The other three birds followed suit, following the eagle into the sky when they finished.

"So, where are we now?" Kuwabara took a look around, still feeling as though he flew in the air.

"The Island of The Oracle." Misaki gestured to encompass the whole of the land around them. "The cave is on the other side."

"Through that?" Kuwabara looked disbelievingly at the forest. "Looks worse than the one we fought through on the way here!"

"I'm fairly sure you can't even get into that forest, much less traverse it." Misaki admitted.

Kurama nodded, agreeing with her. The denseness of the plants did not seem promising.

"Then around we go!" Yusuke decided.

"Which way?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Take your pick." Misaki shrugged, grimacing as her shoulder protested the movement. "It's about the same distance either way and pretty straightforward at that."

"Fun." Yusuke snorted, taking the lead.

…

Nothing of consequence happened as they walked, only the spray of the sea to their left, along with the roaring of the waves, keeping them company.

It slowly grew darker as the sun set and they were forced to stop and make camp for the night.

They carefully gathered wood on the ground from the very edge of the forest, getting enough for a decent fire that Kurama had the ingenuity to start.

The four who rode with the birds realized just how tired they were when they lay down, despite the uncomfortableness of the hard ground. They had used up much energy during the flight and fell asleep rather quickly.

Misaki had just enough of her former state returned that she no longer needed sleep, neither was she able to fall asleep, and so she sat back from the fire a little ways, gazing up at the stars.

She absently fiddled with the dagger with Drake's blood on it in her lap, glad for the company of the others on what would have been a long, trying journey, though she would never confess it out loud.

Suddenly a thought hit Misaki. He knew. Drake knew that she would change. He knew that she would need his blood in order to cross the sea, there had always only been four birds. Even though he had said he didn't know what her body's reaction to the gift would be, he had lied.

She wasn't sure what to make of this new development.

"So, what else are you lying to them about?"

The harsh words pulled her from her reverie and she blinked, confused for a moment, as they hold so close a relationship to the chain of thought she had just gotten through.

Hiei's blazing eyes glared at her across the fire.

"Pardon?"

"What else are you lying to them about?" He repeated. He was obviously not pleased about something though what exactly it was, Misaki had no clue or guess.

"Well, I certainly would have to know who and what you're talking about in the first place in order to determine whether I'm lying to them about it or not." Suspicious little monkey.

He wasn't stupid, but he hated it when people talked like that. Why couldn't they just out and say what they meant instead of flowering everything like Kurama had a habit of doing.

"You said you don't sleep."

She nodded. "You speak truth."

"And yet you slept back in the forest."

Misaki cursed to herself. She had. She had forgotten. "Again. You speak truth."

"So, what else are you lying to them about? What are you really dragging them into?"

"Seeing as how I didn't actually lie to you in the first place, I don't see how it matters."

He ignored that comment. He had caught her in that lie and there was nothing she could do about it. "I think they would all like to know if there is a possibility that they could lose their lives."

"As would you I'm sure."

He didn't say anything.

"And as suspicious and battle-hardened as you are, can't you tell if your life is at stake or not?" He was clearly not pleased about something, his eyes flaring at her dangerously and yet she could not stop her mouth from yammering. "Do you not naturally assume that every step you take could be your last?"

"They have a right to know if they are putting their lives on the line for the likes of you."

Misaki wasn't sure what he meant by that, so she disregarded it.

"I think I see now." She grinned devilishly, thankful that no others were awake to be privy to this conversation as she was beginning to feel slightly foolish, "You don't trust me. Because you think I lied to you about sleep and now you don't believe you can trust anything I say."

Hiei stiffened, though he wasn't sure why. It was common knowledge, or should have been, that he trusted no one.

"And I for one don't see you as the type to care what I drag them into, Hiei. You're fast, you can always run away if need be."

Misaki blinked and then Hiei was at her throat, having lunged at her through the fire between them. His katana had a bite to it and currently its teeth were poised at the skin of her throat.

"Let me tell you something, Hiei," Apparently the part of her brain that would have been screaming for her to shut up had shut down. If she hadn't had his sword biting into her neck she would have leaned closer to him to whisper into his ear. As it was, she merely lowered her voice so that he had to pay very close attention to hear her, "Were I in your position, I would not trust me either."

Misaki was sure that if it had been possible, fire would have leapt from his eyes to consume her.

"I see you as being the type of youkai who does not like being in the dark. And yet you have lived in darkness your whole life. And when a sliver of light forces some of that darkness to flee, you simply don't know what to do with yourself. That's why you haven't left your self-imposed post at these boys' sides. But you're afraid, not of the darkness around you or of the darkness in you because you know both, but of the light and the fact that it may reveal to have this whole time been inside of y-"

Here the katana pressed harder at her throat, stopping her words. She grabbed at his wrist, though it did her no good. She took a moment to recover before going on, urged by something inside of her, perhaps something that was daring him to end her life. She would be rid of her bruises at least. The death at her throat, if anything, spurred her rash words onward.

"What will on more ounce of darkness matter? One more ounce of not knowing? Or can you in truth not stand the darkness?" She choked the words out over the sword.

He should kill her. He knew he should kill her. She could be leading them to their deaths anyway. They could find their own way off this cursed island, find the Oracle on their own and ask it how to leave. They didn't need her. They wouldn't miss her. She would betray them, could they not see it? But…perhaps that would be interesting. He would see it coming. It would be amusing to see the look on the tall idiot's face, even on Kurama's face, the smart-alecky fox-boy. He saw it coming and they did not. Yes. Interesting. He would not be caught off guard. He would kill her as soon as she did it, as soon as there was even an indication of her doing it. Simple as that. Hn.

The Jagan remained strangely quiet.

Hiei let her go, easily jerking out of her grasp and standing over her a moment longer before he allowed himself a smirk as he turned away to go sit alone out of sight somewhere.

Reality crashed around Misaki, her eyes going wide and her heart beginning to beat unnaturally fast. She had been extremely close to losing her life and she did not know what made Hiei change his mind. If he had killed he,r it would have been over, in more ways than one. In more ways than he could have guessed.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, settling down in front of the fire once more, watching the flame try and remember the steps to an ancient dance it had never known.

…

As soon as everyone woke up, they started off again, though certainly not without some complaining. They hadn't eaten since the bread before the forest attacked and quite frankly, Kuwabara and Yusuke were starving.

"Can't you like grow us some food or something?"

Kurama just smiled and shook his head at Kuwabara when the boy asked, following after Yusuke who once again took the lead around the island.

The journey was unnervingly uneventful after all of their pains to get there. But it was pleasant enough at least. They moved along at a good pace and rounded the island to the next beach in decent time.

Something in Misaki's stomach sank as they rounded the corner. They had made it. It wasn't as if she felt excited to be here. She had spent enough time here as it was and hadn't enjoyed it at all. She didn't think she would even have the heart to tease Eldred about it.

The forest to their right was open and a cave sat in the opening where the trees were clear.

Misaki stepped in front of it, recognizing what should have been considered more of a rather large hole than a cave. It did not go very far back. The others came up behind her.

In the back of a cave, sitting on a rock, was a man with white hair, clothed in white robes. No one said a word. No one had to. They all knew this was the Oracle they sought, whether because of the fact that his eyes were covered by a white blindfold or just something they knew within themselves as soon as they saw him.

He stood up to greet them and Misaki walked forward, the group following. He and Misaki stopped when they stood about five meters apart.

"Hail Arienai Ansatsusha."

"Hail Oracle. You who have lost yourself." Misaki responded, closing the final distance and saluting him with a fist across her chest.

He knelt down before her and bowed his head.

"I know you. Oracle or no. I name you, Eldred. My child." She had missed him. Misaki placed her hands on the top of his head briefly, giving her blessing and then placing a kiss between her hands.

Everyone else gawked. This man was obviously older than she, the lines on his face not making him any less handsome. It should have been her who knelt and him who gave a blessing, logically.

"This guy is…is your kid?" Yusuke finally spurted.

Misaki and Eldred laughed as Eldred stood.

Grinning, Misaki shook her head, "No, no, definitely not."

"I do find it a trifle insulting how quickly you would dismiss the thought, Ansatsusha." He looked down at her.

"Eldred, were I ever somehow to bear a child, I can assure you he would not be like you." She couldn't help the fond look she gave him.

"So, he's not your kid." Yusuke decided, feeling a little better.

Eldred frowned, "I suppose I forget that the years will be as kind as you deem them, Ansatsusha. This youngling must not realize that you are…well enough my senior."

"And I don't think they ever needed to realize it, Eldred. I've never understood why you enjoy looking like that." She gestured towards his hair.

He smiled impishly, "I always thought it made me look distinguished."

"I think the word you're looking for is, 'old', my friend."

"Wait, how old are you?" Yusuke didn't even want to try and count it on his fingers.

"It isn't polite to ask, Yusuke." Misaki said primly. She turned to Eldred, "How old were you on your last birthday?"

"You just asked him how old he was!" Kuwabara protested.

Misaki ignored him.

Eldred laughed, "You know, I think my birthday came and went without me realizing it. What year is this? Time passes differently here on the island."

"No clue." Misaki admitted. She was bad at keeping dates.

Before anyone could provide one, Eldred spoke again, "I believe I may have seen quite a few millennia in my time. I was one of the first at the time of earth's creation but there were greater conflicts before me."

It had been such a long time since Misaki had seen Eldred and she felt at peace around him as she always did. The other Elements all had their fine points, even Coahtu, but Eldred was the one who was forever calm and collected in the midst of strife.

They both knew perfectly well that they could change their appearance as they liked, though they basically stayed the same way since they came into being. Eldred preferred to look older because he liked to think it held some sort of elegance. He teased Misaki about not looking old and she always countered that old crones didn't have any elegance whatsoever. Take Genkai for example.

"Man, and I called Genkai 'grandma'. I would have to call you great-grandma." Yusuke's grin was wide and taunting.

Misaki sniffed prudishly, "A few centuries younger and I may have taken offense to that."

"I don't think you ever would have taken offense to that." Eldred frowned again.

Misaki elbowed his ribs.

"Oh, sorry."

Kurama watched the going-ons with quiet amusement, as he always did. He knew Misaki's age and hadn't thought a thing about it. Youko Kurama had seen many years and he knew there were many others who were even older than that. Several questions ran through Kurama's head at this time though, questions he had catalogued away that he eventually planned on getting answers to. He knew about the beginning of the world, how Eldred and the other Elements came into existence, so he did not take surprise at that.

"I would not suggest referred to Misaki as 'grandma'," Eldred was advising.

Kuwabara and Yusuke couldn't help the laughter which echoed around everyone in the cave.

"Especially considering that I do not resemble Genkai. But if you really are that insecure about your own looks, I would stand it. Just for you."

That got the both of them to come up short on the laughing.

"What are you talking about? I've got a pretty enough face for Urameshi and myself!"

"That's funny, Kuwabara. I was just about to say the same thing about you."

Kuwabara opened his mouth for a smart retort but he was distracted momentarily when his eyes passed over Eldred.

"So, you're an oracle, huh?"

"The Oracle, yes."

"What exactly does an oracle do?" Yusuke wanted to know.

"Yusuke!" Kurama sounded a little exasperated.

"What! If I'm going to be here, I might as well know why we risked our lives for it."

Misaki raised an eyebrow, "Do you want a history lesson?"

"It involves history?" Yusuke made a face. "Then, I take back my question."

"Why do you wear a blindfold?" Kuwabara asked.

"More history," Misaki interjected.

"He takes back his question too." Yusuke provided.

"Ansatsusha, it has nothing to do with history." Eldred protested.

"You just think it doesn't because you were a part of it. It doesn't seem like history to you."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "This is gross. I didn't come here to learn."

"Some of us might appreciate the knowledge, Yusuke." Kurama spoke up.

"How did I know you were going to say that?"

"An inquiring mind." Eldred seemed impressed at the prospect, "Just who do you keep company with nowadays, Ansatsusha?"

"That one would be the vessel of Youko Kurama." She said dryly. She had somehow known like Yusuke that Kurama was going to speak up.

"Ah." Eldred searched for him with covered eyes, "Then, it would be Suiichi Minamino. Now, I realize who is here. The Spirit Detective and his associates.

Hiei wasn't sure if he liked being referred to as an 'associate'.

"It's what you are."

Hiei knew that Eldred was speaking to him, even without looking up and seeing that Eldred was looking right at him.

Eldred tapped his blindfold at the temple, "I can see right through you."

"So, that's what you do!" Yusuke seemed to be having a revelation.

"Spirit Detectives?" Eldred turned to Misaki next to him, "Again?"

Misaki shook her head, indicating he should hold his tongue.

Eldred closed his mouth, frowning at her. The others had already heard him and their gazes shifted back and forth between the two.

"Eldred, I need to speak with you."

"Naturally. I did not believe this was simply a courtesy call." He knew how dangerous the journey was, as well as how much Misaki would have avoided returning if possible. There was a reason for it.

Misaki took his arm, leading him back to the rock he sat upon earlier. Neither of them indicated that the others should follow, and they appeared to want to speak privately.

* * *

-lotsm


	25. Oracle Arc:: Visions

A/N: ...I have class in the morning and it is almost 2 am as I'm writing these words...uuuuugh.

O/C24: With the golden dragon gone, the group arrives at The Island of The Oracle with no further interruptions. Their journey to the Oracle's cave is an easy one, a blessed recuperation time from the trials they faced, and they finally meet Eldred. Misaki and he go into the back of the cave to talk.

* * *

Seeing that they weren't going anywhere any time soon, Hiei sat down, leaning up against the wall of the cave and closing his eyes.

"What're you doing?" Kuwabara frowned.

"If you can't tell, they'll be catching up for a while. I prefer sitting to standing during long, boring conversations, idiot."

Kuwabara almost shot back with his own insult when he saw Kurama sitting cross-legged nearby, Yukina sitting too. Yusuke had wandered outside to the beach. Kuwabara grumbled something inaudible and followed his fellow human.

Kurama remained inside to listen in on the conversation Eldred and Misaki were having and Hiei planned on sleeping, leaving the Jagan awake to alert him of any change in the situation.

The words that passed between Eldred and Misaki were audible, echoing off the back of the cave and coming forward, but they were low and fast. With part of her powers regained, Misaki was able to converse in this fast-speak and she was thankful. Normal talking would have taken too long.

When Kurama realized she was only catching Eldred up on their journey, of which Kurama had been a part, he stood, asking Yukina if she'd like to go outside and stand in the breeze for a while. She did, smiling as she stood and walking out with him to join the two humans. At this rate, they would be done faster than Hiei thought.

"I didn't think he would ever leave." Misaki's eyes flickered over at Kurama's back as he retreated outside.

"He is intelligent, Ansatsusha." Eldred noted wisely.

"The vessel is much too intelligent if you ask me. He will get himself killed because of it."

"Youko Kurama wouldn't have it any other way." Eldred smiled a moment. "So, what did you truly come to talk to me about? I know what the trials the journey to the Isle consists of and I assumed you were merely waiting for him to leave."

Misaki fell silent, gathering her thoughts. "Have you heard news?"

"If you mean have I seen any of the recent events throughout the world, yes. I try to keep up." His eyebrows rose wryly above his blindfold.

"As you are commanded," she nodded approvingly, "More specifically, have you seen anything pertaining to me."

"You know as well as I do that the Oracle can see nothing when it pertains to you." He regarded her blindly, straining to look through that blindness. "You are avoiding the subject."

"I thought you couldn't see anything when it pertains to me." She said primly.

"I have long been in the practice, Ansatsusha. Tell me." Eldred reached out and formed his hand around her cheek, longing to see her face.

"I look the same as ever, wind-child." She placed her fingers over his, knowing his thoughts.

"It's been so long since I've seen you."

"And I you."

"I don't think any of us will ever get use to the longevity." He sighed unhappily, "It is the curse of our origins."

"So many people lost. All dead. There's so much pain."

"If you did not feel any, I would question your humanity, such as it is."

"I am no human."

He did not respond to the vehemence in her voice. She was more so than she thought, but he didn't push the subject.

"I wish it would end." Her eyes were closed, her hand still over his. There was a sudden aging to her face, as if it had become tired itself.

Eldred's fingers felt her face muscles contact in a dark frown and he brushed the tip of his thumb over her forehead. "It cannot. Not for you. We do not belong-"

"I do not belong." She corrected.

He ignored her and went on, "They live in a separate time, almost a separate dimension. Why do you do it to yourself." It was no question. They both knew why.

"What am I supposed to do?" She pulled away from his hand, her voice angry, "Lock myself away? Become a hermit? I tried that too, remember? It killed me more than being with them will." She gestured towards the fiery youkai at the entrance of the cave and the vessel, koorime and two humans outside it. Her suddenly flash of irritation was gone and the last words came out more quiet.

"Why Spirit Detectives, Arienai Ansatsusha?" He truly seemed puzzled, "I never believed you strong enough to fall in with their kind a second time."

"I am not strong enough. But it is where my path has fallen and you know as well as I that I do not choose no matter what I say."

"Again, I will attempt to sway you to say your mind: you're stalling."

Misaki's eyes looked far away as if she was privy to some vision only she could see. "There is a war coming, Eldred."

"What?" He had not seen any such thing. Though he had not been looking for such a thing either.

"A war. Bigger than any of us. Bigger than anything anyone has ever witnessed. It will consume everything. And we are powerless to stop it."

"We have not been told to stop it."

"And we will not be told. And there is no number designation high enough to count how many will die. No one will be prepared because no one knows. It will fall upon them like a black widow upon her lover." One of her hands clenched into an angry fist, "And because Elements are not allowed to interfere, some will fall."

"That would throw the world into chaos!" Eldred exclaimed, "We are those who keep it in balance! Even if one of us were to perish, the balance would be thrown off."

"The balance is off anyway, what with my existence." She smirked grimly, "Perhaps it would in fact rebalance it."

"Lies, Ansatsusha. Things would only become worse."

"I am weary, Eldred." And the look on her face proved it, she wilted as she said it, lacking the strength to even hold her head up.

He sighed, "Just once, I wish I could see you with my eyes. Who can say the next time we will meet?"

"I want to see your face unhindered." She came back to life briefly, reaching up and taking his blindfold off, ignoring Eldred's protests.

"You can't!"

"I am. I want to look into your eyes."

She sat with the strip of cloth in her hand, waiting.

For a moment, Eldred didn't open his eyes, his forehead wrinkling in the light hitting his face. Even when he opened them, the pupils contracted suddenly to compensate. The milky white blindness token of the Oracle slipped away from his irises, revealing the true chocolate brown color underneath.

"Dear sister," He said tenderly, reaching forward to hug Misaki, "I have long missed your face. I would say now that perhaps your banishment was for too long a time."

The wind picked up outside and swept into the cave, whirling around Eldred like a long-lost child.

"And I have missed you as well, my element." Eldred pulled away from her, reaching his arms out as if to hug the wind too. It curled around his body, brushing his robes and fluffing his white hair. Eldred sighed a contented sigh, "Without you I feel incomplete."

"But with it you cannot see."

"That doesn't make it any easier." He rested his gaze on her, drinking in her features. "You haven't changed at all."

"You didn't believe me?"

Eldred frowned, "Who knows what will come of you denying the world its Oracle."

"I will take that blame. And would take it again." She responded as he took the cloth from her hand to put back over his eyes which had just started to lose their color.

"The fire-sister spoke true, you may not get from me what you seek."  
She had told him about the loss of her arm and as a result her power.

"I do not think those I travel with would agree, but I would say the journey was worth it whether or not we get what we need."

Eldred nodded and stood. The wind was gone and his robes sighed once as they grew still.

Kurama had seen that the conversation came to a close and gathered up the others, bustling them back into the cave. Misaki joined them, leaving Eldred by himself to the front of their group.

"You have passed through many trials and I commend you for making it this far with no losses. It is not often that happens."

"Don't interrupt," Misaki whispered, elbowing Yusuke in the ribs. The boy had opened his mouth but closed it, frowning at her as he rubbed his side.

"As reward for living through the tests, I will give you what I see. I cannot answer questions as visions are never stationary or focused but they will pertain to you in some form or another so I advise you to pay attention."

_"So it's true. He might not give Misaki the words she wants to hear." _Kurama glanced at her and she appeared tired to him, worn out.

Although he was wrapped in darkness, as Eldred closed his eyes he could see.

"A mortal's blood/a final queue/shift one way and go askew. Traveling takes/not a moment more/than seeking out/the dimension's door. You have not reached/your journey's end/your tasks goes on/to still defend." Images were shooting quickly over Eldred's gaze and while he spoke, it wasn't him saying the words. He slipped farther away from the cave around them within his mind's eye and his voice became more rhythmic.

"Face your fears/descend you must/into the sea/beneath earth's crust. A specter waits/the beat unsteady/horror waits/living levy. In good mood/you should be fine/but cannot wait another time. Terror deep within the chest/as far away as east from west." Eldred collapsed onto the floor and Kuwabara ran forward, Yusuke close behind.

"Let's go."

Kurama was astonished at the steel in Misaki's voice.

"You mean we're just going to leave him here?" Kuwabara protested.

"Yes." She turned and went out of the cave, but not before Kurama caught the cold look on her face.

"I assume he'll be fine." He followed her.

"If that makes you feel better about leaving him." She shrugged one shoulder up and down.

" 'Seeing' takes a lot out of someone." Kurama noted.

"I could never get half as many verses as he just did." Misaki grumbled quietly.

"Wait, where are we going?" Yusuke trotted out.

"Weren't you listening at all?" Misaki shook her head, jogging to head back around to the beach where they arrived.

"Well yeah but—"

"Then, it should be obvious."

Hiei appeared in front of her and she skidded to a stop, his eyes glaring.

" 'Descend you must/into the sea/beneath earth's crust' doesn't spell it out for you?" she asked wryly, raising an eyebrow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're going where now?" Yusuke exclaimed.

Misaki skirted Hiei and started to jog off again.

"Isn't it kind of hot in the center of the earth?" Kuwabara pointed out. "Won't we burn or something?"

"Very good Kuwabara. But burning is the least of our worries." Misaki scowled.

The others were running in her wake.

"How so?"

"Just hope that we catch Him in a good mood."

Kuwabara tripped as he considered what she said, " 'Him?' Wait, who?" He ran to catch up with the group.

She wouldn't answer any of their questions; she seemed to be on autopilot.

Misaki did slow when she remembered Yukina and that the girl probably didn't ever run like that unless it was necessary.

They stopped when it got dark, making camp again as well as a fire. Misaki pulled food out for them, stuff she grabbed on the way out of the cave. It was there in case anyone actually ever made it to the Oracle and was perpetually fresh.

"It is odd that these beaches are not sandy." Kurama said, "With the water beating against the rock, it would at least show signs of wear and tear."  
"But this is the Island of the Oracle. You rode in the minds of giant birds to get here. I think normal rules would not apply." Misaki continued passing the food around until it was distributed.

"True."

"So, is no one else concerned about this whole beneath the earth thing?" Yusuke wanted to know. "You know, molten lava and temperatures we can't withstand or something?"

"Speak for yourself." Hiei responded.

"Or something." Misaki snorted, shaking her head.

Kuwabara spoke up, "How would you know, Urameshi? You always fall asleep in science class. In the off chance that you're even there."

"Shut up, Kuwabara!"

"How far beneath the earth will we have to go?" Yukina said in between munching.

"As far away as the east is from the west." Misaki shrugged.

Yusuke looked confused. "East from the west? That makes no sense!"

"No matter how far east you walk, west is only one step behind you."

"Now you're starting to sound like the oracle thingy."

"That made my brain hurt." Kuwabara rubbed his forehead.

Misaki gave a merciless laugh, "I ought to be able to sound like an oracle. Who do you think had that job before Eldred? I was talking in rhyme for weeks afterwards. It isn't a job intelligent beings volunteer for."

"You were an oracle? That is such an honorable job! Helping out those in need! Can I be an oracle?" Kuwabara rushed over to her with stars in his eyes, grabbing her hands.

"Honorable? Tell that to Cassandra." Misaki jerked her hands away.

"Cassandra?" Yusuke frowned.

"There is a Greek myth that the god Apollo fell in love with a human female named Cassandra and gave her the gift of foresight, the ability to see into the future. She refused to be with him and though he could not recall a gift once given, he cursed it, saying that she would foresee all of the horrible events of the future but no one would ever believe her."

"Thank you, Mister Almanac." Misaki said.

"You're welcome." Kurama replied curtly.

"So what's all that mean?" Yusuke asked.

Misaki whacked him upside the back of the head.

"Ow!" He rubbed it, "What was that for?"

"Being stupid."

Hiei chuckled once, checking himself and staring into the fire emotionlessly again.

"You might want to get some sleep." She told them, "We'll easily get back where we landed tomorrow."

"Do we get to fly again?" Kuwabara eagerly wanted to know. The other three who had also flown looked at her expectantly.

"No. One way trip."

"Oh." His face fell.

After more back and forth banter, they settled down for sleep on the hard rock, Misaki keeping watch.

She wasn't comforted by the stars overhead or the sea lapping up onto the shore. The smell of memories was heavy on the air, ones she'd just as well forget, mixed in with the salt. Concentrating on not thinking, she barely caught the steady beat of sleeping hearts and wasn't troubled by unwelcome thoughts.

As on their arriving journey, they started off again after everyone awoke, most of them enjoying the nice weather and pleasant walk.

Yusuke led the way, they were merely going back around the island, and Misaki dropped back by herself, absently fingering the dagger Drake gave to her.

Not paying particular attention, Misaki sliced open one of her thumbs, sticking in her mouth and frowning at the blackened blade. Part of it instantly stained red.

Abruptly, Kurama stopped, his head shifting slightly as his eyes looked to either side of him. Hiei caught something on the air as well, his own eyes darting about them.

"Get between us, Yukina." Kurama asked of her. Yusuke was still in front and Kuwabara stepped behind her so she was shielded by their bodies.

"We're being followed." Hiei finally said darkly.

"I can't see anything, but I can feel it. Powerful." Kuwabara almost shivered.

"Get down!" Misaki and Kurama shouted at the same time. Misaki dove forward and pushed Kuwabara to the side where he hit the ground.

The others reacted just as fast, Hiei pulling Yukina out of the way, Kurama and Yusuke both ducking.

Something big whooshed over their heads and Misaki felt her hair rustling wildly in the sudden wind. She glanced up, wincing, to see a flash of gold rise above them and turn around to make another dive.

The golden dragon roared angrily, tattered wings and grayish scales still ominous and filling the sky over them.

Everyone who hadn't dodged the last time, dodged this time as the dragon swooped closer this time, nearly raking the still face-down Kuwabara with its claws.

"To the sea!" Misaki yelled above the rush of the wings.

They were near the point where the birds landed them and they dashed for the waves that lashed at the rocks.

The dragon bellowed and an arc of flames lit up the air in warning.

"Keep running!"

Kuwabara had scrambled to his feet and ran after the others, Misaki stopping to look back.

Having not truly expected their dodge, the dragon was attempting to compensate for its over-flight but its turn was too wide to be quick. That gave them a little more time.

Yusuke skidded to a halt as he reached the water, small waves lapping at his shoes.

"What now?"

Something began pulsing around her waist and Misaki grabbed for the dagger hidden there. She ran forward and jabbed the blade into the rock just past the water's edge. It sank easily into the stone, much to her surprise and she lost her grip as her fingers whacked into the cross-shaped guard.

The earth beneath them rumbled and the sea started to churn, parting just behind the dagger in a dark, bottomless circle.

"Go!" Misaki ordered, pushing Yusuke, who was nearest to her, into the yawning hole. He lost his balance as she shoved him and fell inside.

Kuwabara took one look at the dragon, who had finished its turn and was headed straight for them, and looked at the hole and decided that his odds were better in the hole. Misaki grabbed Yukina's arm and propelled her in after him. The look Hiei gave her was murderous.

_"We don't have time for you to question me!"_

She was behind both him and Kurama, herding them towards the hole. Kurama made it.

The dragon was hurtling for Hiei and Misaki and neither had time to move forward before the dragon engulfed them both in flames. Misaki did have time to place herself between Hiei and the fire, protecting her head with her arms.

They were almost knocked over by the force of the fiery breath, Misaki ramming into Hiei before planting her feet.

The flames resided as the dragon plunged over them again, only licks of flame left that were quickly dying as it rose into the sky.

"I'm a fire youkai." Hiei spat, shrugging her away from where she was braced up against him.

She gave him a blank look. He wouldn't have been hurt even if she hadn't been there.

"Is your clothing a fire youkai too? Or would you have preferred that I let it burn off?"

Hiei didn't answer, following after the others.

Misaki's back arched in pain as the dragon slashed its claws across her from shoulder to waist and she drew blood from her lip and tongue as she clamped her mouth shut to keep from crying out. Adrenaline blocked the pain, rushing through her body as Misaki yanked the dagger from the ground, bracing the hilt with one palm as she held it. She jabbed upwards and felt the sharp tip sinking into flesh. Steaming bits of acid-blood dripped onto her shoulders, burning holes in the hitatare she wore.

A screech ripped from the dragon's mouth as it wheeled away, staggering through the air over the dark forest and plummeting into the awaiting trees.

The hole before her was starting to close, but Misaki hadn't noticed. A hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed her arm, pulling her through.

* * *

-lotsm


	26. Oracle Arc:: The Journey Down

A/N: It's really awesome when you read something you wrote two or three years ago and laugh out loud at humorous lines you had forgotten you even came up with. Well…it's either really awesome or really pathetic, take your pick.

O/C25: After receiving the vision from Eldred the Oracle, the gang leaves the cave, heading back around the island to the sea. The golden dragon makes an appearance again and they manage to escape into the earth, beginning their journey to see Him.

* * *

Misaki's sight left for a moment as she went from the bright outside world to the darkness within the hole. She fell to the ground and rolled away from the hole as it closed up behind her, the loud roaring of the injured dragon being shut out.

Grunting, Misaki found her footing and stood up, painfully aware that whoever grabbed her had, of course, chosen the wrong arm upon which to latch. Her new shoulder was throbbing as painfully as ever, but she noted with pleased presence of mind that she was neither hungry, nor thirsty, nor any of the other 'mortal-like' things she had very nearly gotten used to.

A hand rested on her back and she sharply took a breath as she winced.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see those." Kurama removed his hand, inspecting the torn hitatare top where the dragon's claws ripped the cloth.

"There's no blood. The shirt took most of the damage. It's just...a little sore."

"Understandably."

"Thank you." She said gratefully. _"If I hadn't been pulled through the hole…well, I would currently be having a wonderful conversation with an angry dragon."_

_"Don't mention it." _A dry voice brushed her mind.

It wasn't completely dark. The walls were glowing faintly and everyone's eyes eventually adjusted to the dim lighting.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were nearby, leaning comfortably against the wall to catch their breath. Yukina came to Misaki's side.

"Sit down."

The order was so compelling, though ever quiet, that Misaki sat first without realizing what happened. Frowning, she looked over her shoulder to see the girl inspecting her back.

"You're lucky this protected you," Yukina didn't know the hitatare was a gift from Coahtu but she did know that it acted as armor against the dragon's attack, "There will only be bruises. This needs to come off though."

Tenderly, Misaki shucked off the hitatare, revealing a dark sleeveless shirt underneath.

"You'll be fine." Yukina smiled, "Not a hint of torn skin." She still placed her hands gently on Misaki's back, healing the deep bruises hidden there.

Kuwabara was smiling at the girl as he watched, Hiei glowering at him in turn from where he stood.

The combined efforts of Yukina and the dragon's blood that now coursed through Misaki's veins easily took care of some simple bruises.

Brushing off Yukina's attempt to help her rise, Misaki got up, still a little stiff.

The hitatare burst into flames as if to draw attention to itself, burning away into nothing.

"Apparently, you were done with that." Kurama's lips turned upward a little.

"Apparently." Misaki responded. Inwardly, she laughed, _"Oh, Coahtu. I can't wait to see your face when you find this particular bit of news out."_

They were in the middle of a dark room, only one path leading into a dark hallway available.

"So, where exactly are we now?" Yusuke craned his neck down the hallway, examining the faintly glowing walls.

Misaki sighed, "The beginning of another journey,"

"A cave." Hiei said at the same time.

"Could either of you be any vaguer?" Yusuke shook his head, "Wait, don't answer that. I bet you could."

Misaki grinned in spite of herself, "Now there's a bet I wouldn't go in opposition of. Down that hall, down the stairs at the end of that hall, and then down more stairs than you would ever want to count, is the dimensional center of the earth."

"Yeah, because that just made it all oh-so-clear to me now. Can I take back my second question?"

"We should get moving. Wouldn't want you two to be held back a year in school because you missed too many days." Misaki led the way into the hall.

"No…they wouldn't really do that would they?" Kuwabara looked concerned.

"Well, not for Kurama. He could probably skip secondary school entirely." Yusuke jabbed a finger at the red-haired guy. " 'Yep, here I am, first day of work and I'm already the CEO.' " Yusuke, being Kurama, pretended to be quietly pleased with himself as Kurama did all the time. And pulled it off quite nicely.

"Wouldn't time pass differently in a different dimension?" Kurama swiftly changed the subject.

The group had already reached the end of the hallway and started down the stairs.

Misaki stuck her tongue out childishly at Kurama, "Have you always been a fun-sucker, vessel? I could have had them going for at least three hours and now I have nothing to do."

"I somehow suspect you'll live." Kurama replied loftily.

"Maybe." She frowned playfully and had to concentrate on the stairs as she tripped down a couple. Kuwabara and Yusuke appropriately laughed and she stuck her tongue out at them as well, laughing herself when Kuwabara fell down more than she.

"Are you alright?" Kurama came up beside her and they walked down the steps together. Kuwabara and Hiei were already at it above them.

"Half-pint!"

"Idiot."

"Hamster legs!"

"Idiot."

"You can't use the same one twice!"

"But it was much more true the second time."

Yusuke laughed, Yukina giggling.

Nobody caught the brief glance Hiei made at Yukina, his expression almost pleased. She was looking at Yusuke who made some comment Hiei didn't hear at all.

"Why wouldn't I be alright vessel?" Misaki responded, imitating Kurama's loftiness from earlier.

"You don't seem to be acting yourself is all."

"Really."

"There's something wrong."

"Really. And what makes you think you know me well enough to deduce that?" Her words were light and had laughter in them and he wasn't able to take offense, finding himself smiling. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"Now, I know there's something wrong with you."

Misaki peered over at him curiously.

He laughed, "You have practically said yourself that you can't help but tell me things I ask."

Waggling a finger at him, she tripped down a few more stairs before grumbling something inaudible and turning back to face him, "I have never said any such thing." But the opening and closing her mouth had done before she found words to speak indicated that it was in fact true.

Kurama still couldn't figure out what mood she was in, there was something different about her entirely.

She had a strange urge to tackle Kurama to the ground in a giant hug for being so smart and at the same time she wanted to pummel him now in the hopes that he might learn being so smart was dangerous and would never to do it again.

"Shorty!"

"Half-wit."

"Runt!"

"Flat face."

"Oh, so now we're getting personal are we?"

"Uh, Kuwabara, all your insults have been about his height."

Kuwabara turned to Yusuke, "Yeah, so?"

"So, yours have been personal the whole time."

"Yeah, so?"

"…"

It took Yusuke a second to recover.

"So why did you say that?"

"I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

There did come a time when neither Kuwabara nor Hiei could think of any more insults, so their argument faded off into silence as everyone continued walking.

It seemed as though time passed slowly and they weren't making any progress at all, though those who wondered about the time had no idea how much time had actually passed.

After a while, the passage widened out and the light got brighter. However, the walls weren't glowing, the light seemed to shine from everywhere.

Yusuke couldn't really stand the quiet, he felt like he was walking in a funeral procession. He could only think of one question to ask that would keep the silence at bay for a while.

"Misaki?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are we going to see again?"

It took longer to step down from one stair to the next as each stair was deeper now.

"Sit. Your legs will thank you." Misaki stopped her downward pace and gestured to the floor.

They all sat, Hiei leaned back against the wall behind him, Yusuke and Kuwabara spread themselves out, stretching their muscles which had just started to protest at the strain. Kurama and Misaki sat down cross-legged and Yukina sunk to her knees gratefully, sitting on her feet.

"Him."

"What?"

"We're going to see Him."

"And who is Him?"

"He is She and It and has no gender, two sides of the same coin, twins in one body, neither good nor bad, He simply exists. Since at this time you reside in a predominately male-dominated society, Him makes it much easier to refer to the Essence."

"If there ever was a contest for obscurity, you should enter." Yusuke muttered.

Misaki sighed, looking grim.

"We're traveling down into the center of this dimension to see the Essence."

"The essence?" Kurama asked. Even he had not heard of a being called such.

"There are no records of the Essence because there are only a handful that know of his existence. And they're all intelligent enough to keep their mouths shut. He knows all of the going ons in the three worlds but only represents and speaks of those in the Ningenkai. You either die on the journey to see him or die upon seeing him."

"I think we can easily dispatch any enemy in our way." Hiei spoke up from his wall.

Her smile was not one of amusement, "You cannot dispatch something that is merely an essence of something else. This particular one is the essence of human nature, the only Essence currently in existence. You all remember the Chapter Black Tape?"

There were nods. Duh.

"That tape was not meant to be seen by itself, but only as the collection completely. The essence is like the living embodiment of those tapes. Except that you only see whichever one is dominating human reality right now."

"And which one is that?" Kurama somehow knew but felt he had to ask.

"He has had many years to fester." Misaki scowled darkly. "I have only seen him once before and that was towards the beginning. I would not return now if I didn't think it would be worthwhile. And even then I'm reluctant. This is not your average tea-time call."

Yukina seemed curious, "What does he look like?"

_"Any question but that, dear Koorime."_ Misaki grimaced.

Hiei caught only a glimpse of the essence from Misaki's mind. It wasn't a glimpse really in an imagery sort of way, but more of a feeling, and one of dread and horror, however fleeting. And darkness, darkness unending, darkness as a maw that would eat you up and swallow you whole-

Misaki snapped closed her mind, glancing at Hiei anxiously to see him shake his head briefly as if ridding his hair of a spider. She reached a hand behind her ear and was surprised to find that the jewel was no longer there. Thinking back, she realized it must have fallen off when Drake got rid of part of her mortality. Which meant it was still in the cave. She had no desire to get it back. She put up mental barriers, cringing at their weakness. Ruefully, she knew she would most likely drop them again absently, she had been out of practice for so long. Even with the barriers up, Misaki hoped Hiei would leave her be; he could break her with a thought.

"His mouth is sewn shut, as the world is denied speaking the truth. His ears are broken, unable to hear the truth. His eyes are torn out-"

"Unable to see the truth." Kurama finished for her.

"If he can't speak truth, then how can we trust what he's going to say?" Hiei wanted to know.

"Unless by speaking truth, when he knows we can't believe what he says, he deceives us." Kuwabara frowned.

"Ow." Yusuke punched him in the shoulder.

"What?"

"That made my brain hurt."

"Allow me to put it this way, Yukina," Misaki finally looked the girl in the eyes, "Had Shinobi Sensui seen the essence, it would not even have instantly broken him into seven souls, it would have destroyed him completely on the spot and he would have lived out his life a raving lunatic, if he did not kill himself from the sight first."

They all grew quiet.

"Not only is He the physical embodiment, but his very aura is twisted and fear and horror and all of the things that humanity does in the darkness that makes them unable to stand the light. That's what He looks like."

When they stood up again, it was in a quieter mood, though a more rested one, and they started their descent once more.

They walked downward, always down. Time had no meaning for them, neither was anyone able to keep track of the steps they took. Kurama didn't want to know.

Hiei and Kuwabara occasionally bantered back and forth, even Kuwabara and Yusuke did at one point, but it was all half-hearted and they soon fell to silence again.

It began to slowly grow darker, so slowly that they didn't notice it. The width of the cavern never grew and the length of the stairs stayed just deep enough to be uncomfortable.

Misaki felt a small hand slip suddenly into hers as Yukina walked closely beside her. Misaki frowned, shaking her head at the girl even as she smiled over at Misaki. But she allowed the Koorime the small comfort.

Soon the ice maiden grew weary and Misaki hoisted Yukina onto her back, not pausing their downward trail for a moment.

Kuwabara offered to take the girl but Misaki shook her head, smiling a little. The girl was a light weight to carry even relaxed in her restless sleep.

Soon, though in actuality none of them knew if it was really 'soon' or not, the stair began spiraling down in a tight circle. The air slowly grew hotter and heavier in such a way that they did not notice. Until Kuwabara passed out on the floor.

"Can you wake him?" Misaki's voice sounded tired as she looked back up the stairs to Yusuke who had dropped next to the boy. She didn't want to walk up those steps, it meant more she would have to retrace. Misaki felt as though her legs would give out any minute.

"He's out. Don't think he'll be up for a while." Yusuke prodded him until he lay flat out on his back. The others were sure there was a jab about Kuwabara collapsing on Yusuke's lips, but he was breathless, a sweaty sheen covering his body and the words did not come out.

Forcing one foot forward and then the next, Misaki reluctantly climbed up to them, both her and Kurama drawing strength from one another for those few steps before dropping to the ground in a pile of exhaustion.

Carefully taking the girl from her back, Misaki leaned Yukina against the wall nearby before hunching over her knees, a bead of sweat dripping off her nose to quickly disappear on the ground.

Worn, tired, sweaty were the faces of the loose circle the group formed. Kuwabara and Yukina weren't the only ones with their eyes closed.

Misaki sat very still for a long time, trying to regain some semblance of strength. She realized, once her eyes were shut, that it was much hotter than before. The heat had been growing at such a miniscule pace that none of them had noticed. Like a frog in a frying pan. The essence did not need petty riddles or ridiculous trials to protect Him.

"I do not think we can carry him." Kurama was regarding Kuwabara thoughtfully.

"Leave him here." Was Hiei's short response.

"He'll be cooked alive. Just as we all will if we remain." Misaki forced herself to stand up. She glanced around at the faces. Kuwabara was obviously the most affected by this heat, Yusuke next. She guessed Kurama was only beginning to feel the toll and doubted if Yukina would ever feel the slightest bit of discomfort. Just because Hiei was a fire youkai didn't mean that he couldn't be cooked alive, it just meant it would take longer to cook him than it would the others.

If just one of them would move forward, the others would follow. But none of them could get themselves to move. Misaki put her hands in her pockets.

Kurama glanced up at her as he caught a change in expression come over her face. Eyes shining even through the darkness with wonderment, he could see her pull something out of her pocket, fingers clasped delicately around it.

Misaki allowed herself to crumble back to the floor, knowing that soon she would be able to stand easily.

_"Resourceful Coahtu," _Misaki thought to herself, half grateful, half disgusted, _"I can picture your smug expression as you tell me you've saved me once again. And you aren't even here to say it."_

Misaki opened the slender bottle, placing her finger over the hole and quickly tipping it upside-down and back. She reached around to her neck, at the knot of bone between her shoulders, and placed the liquid there. Her eyes shot open as flames of ice felt as though they licked across her back to her hands and feet. Just to be safe, she applied a bit of the bottles contents to the same place on Yukina's neck, the girl's sleep appearing to become more restful.

"Kurama, take your shirt off." She turned back to him, being the closest one to her.

His eyes were questioning.

"You're the closest." Misaki was starting to feel more awake and less cooked alive. "Hiei, you too."

Yusuke and Kuwabara had both already taken off their shirts which were tied about their waists. Hiei was so tired that he couldn't shoot Misaki a deathly glare.

_"Well at least you're alright."_ She almost accompanied the thought with an eye-roll.

He didn't answer.

Knowing without even reading his mind that he was curious, Misaki explained briefly the contents of the bottle to Kurama as she coated the back of his neck and part of his shoulders with the liquid.

"Water in its purest form. Works more efficiently on females; we don't need as much and it works faster." She finished him and moved to Yusuke, the next one in the circle, motioning that Kurama should turn Kuwabara over. Done with Yusuke, she sat next to Kuwabara, hoping that the heat hadn't taken too hard of a toll on him. She felt his neck with the back of her hand to find his skin practically in flames and quickly gave his shoulders a coating.

Kurama shook his head in surprise, looking around him with new eyes. He hadn't realized his perception had been so cloudy before. Things appeared sharper to him as he slipped his shirt back on, nudging Kuwabara onto his back. The boy groaned but slowly sat up. By the time Kurama thought to see how Misaki's encounter with Hiei went, the two were ignoring each other as usual. But Hiei was readjusting his cloak.

* * *

In the fourth manga, Hiei calls Kuwabara 'Mr. Flat Face.' and I honestly couldn't think of any more ways of saying 'stupid' at the time so I just had Hiei call him 'flat face.' This has been another completely pointless announcement by your authoress.

Thanks for reading!

-lotsm


	27. Oracle Arc:: The Essence

A/N: So, anyone who doesn't read the author's note will get a rather nasty surprise in the chapter. IT'S KINDA GORY; a warning to those with weak stomachs.

O/C26: A journey down to reach the Essence. Restoring their strength with a gift from Coahtu, Misaki continues to lead the others to the dimensional center of the earth.

* * *

Yukina was still not awake and Misaki refused to let anyone else carry her, despite the offers. Time was no longer on their minds and they weren't bothered by the heat but still no one could bring themselves to talk. They walked downward in silence.

Finally, after an eternity of time that either passed or didn't, the ground flattened out, the air cool and crisp and pure. The group stopped as if of one mind and sat, just because they weren't going down any more.

In the stillness, Kurama caught something on the air and he turned his head this way and that in an attempt to make out what he heard.

It was a pulse. But not a very steady one. The heart it belonged to was weak.

"The pulse of existence." Misaki told him.

The others could hear it now that it had been pointed out.

"This is the only place in this dimension where you can hear it clearly." Each wavering beat tore through Misaki and her expression said she was somewhere far away. A pulse was meant to be strong and steady, comforting in its repetition. For one who was better attuned to heartbeats in general, this one ravaged at Misaki, putting her on edge and causing her own heartbeat to quicken in anguish.

"Down this hall is a door. We're almost there." She said shortly, hoisting Yukina to her back once more.

They came to the door, which was more of a stone rolled in front of a hole than a door. The guys rolled it away and entered the room beyond.

The chamber they walked into was pitch black, even the light from the doorway they just walked through refusing to shine into the beyond. Echoing off of the unseen walls of the huge room, the pulse never grew any steadier. And now accompanying it was a ragged breathing, haunting the air around them.

Misaki wasn't sure how much more of this heartbeat she could take. Her own pulse seemed to have taken on a life of its own, joining with the unsteady timing of the echoing one. She felt fear and alarm, her legs wanting her to run but the pulse rooting her to the ground. If there was a heartbeat out there to make her feel safe and secure, this one did the exact opposite. Who knew what lurked in the darkness of this room? The darkness so thick it was better to close one's eyes for at least that darkness was a familiar one. Her head kept turning this way and that, constantly in search of the source of her terror, but the beat the only revealing factor. She fought a heart-pumping urge to turn and run, run forever, run always, run to be safe, and to keep running. Run to die to stop running. Hopelessness, futility, you will never find the killer and you will die trying.

You are a failure. Kurama didn't hear the words spoken out loud but he turned his head to see who said it. Your mother hates you, wishes you had never been born. You are a burden to her. You think you are doing her a favor by remaining at her side? It will only make the separation harder for she is dying and will die. Your intelligence is of no use to anyone and burdens those around you.

You are nothing. Yusuke's breath came faster, more ragged, as the voice began speaking into his mind as well. You were born a punk, you will die a punk and nobody will know you are gone. You will never become strong, never be able to truly offer complete protection to those you love and they will hate you for it. Your death will be meaningless, your life wiped away and forgotten.

Forbidden. You should never have been born. You are a mistake, an insignificant blot that should have been erased long ago. Hiei's whole body was tense. Your sister would look down on you if she knew what you have become, and even now she is disappointed in you for not revealing yourself. Your existence is beyond detestable and you would do the world a favor if you rolled over and died.

Everyone hates you. You cannot keep up with them, fool. You can try all you like but you will fall and there will be no one to help you up. Kuwabara's shoulders sagged dejectedly, the weight of the words ringing true. You are weak, forever second best and any achievement you can claim as great is not even worth an ink blot of a page of history.

"Stay close." Misaki made an obscure gesture and a beam of light shone straight down on them from above. She stepped fluidly forward, the light circle around her moving as she moved. The others stayed with her.

Misaki closed her eyes and searched around for the energy signature of what she wanted. She knew that the essence would be unable to move with the light on him. And she also knew what the dark chamber meant. She had gotten a feeling while walking down the staircase and it was why she kept Yukina asleep. The girl had seen enough in her time. Misaki wished she could do the same for the others but her power was not that extensive.

They saw it when Misaki shot another beam of light down over it. There was a trail of blood leading to its feet. With sightless eyes, he turned his face towards them. When he spoke, it was with a ghastly legion's legion of tortured voices, all moaning and shrieking, sending shivers down everyone's spin.

"What...do you want...from me?"

Misaki moved closer and the others followed.

He had not eyes but sockets where eyes should have been, his mouth was sewn shut as well as his ears. Blood drenched him from head to toe and was flowing out of his feet, forming a pool around him now that he wasn't moving. Pieces of his skin hung off his frame. Blood fell from his eyes like small twin rivers and from his ears as well. Even from his pants, torn almost beyond recognition, flowed the red streams. And then there was his aura.

Every horrible act ever committed, would be committed, was thought of being committed by humanity flashed before the eyes of those who looked upon Him. The disgusting, the anguish, the tormented, depressed, there was no hope for these or any others. And without hope, there was nothing.

Misaki hardened herself, separating herself from what she saw as she had been taught, so she was able to look at him without pity or any other emotion. She laid Yukina down at the back of the circle of light they stood in. She strained to keep the light beam shining and she stepped forward from her beam to his.

She heard the sound of puking as Kuwabara emptied his stomach onto the floor. Yusuke retched, splattering the ground with what food still remained in his stomach. Hiei and Kurama could not look at him long, youkai and spirit fox vessel though they were.

The empty eye sockets turned themselves onto Misaki.

"D-do you know who I am?" she asked, her voice wavering once before she steeled it. Her strength, even as fake as Misaki knew it to be, was a strong hold on which the guys could steady themselves. Tentatively, Misaki began to reach into their minds with any remaining concentration that she could spare for them. It was not much, but they desired an escape, so with a slight prodding from her, their minds brought forth the brightest shining memory that they could conjure and latched onto it to preserve their sanity.

After a moment, the Jagan Eye joined its strength with hers and the collective group was able to shake off the worst of what they were experiencing and look upon Him as he was before them.

The sightless eyes considered her for a moment but didn't answer. Finally he spoke, agony pouring from the voices which came from deep within him and around him, "Why have you come here, you least of all?"

"I ask you a question of which only you hold the answer."

"Answer?" what was the essence's laughter came out as cries of pain, "You embody...your own answer. How are we...to know who you are? We only know ourselves...we do not know anyone else. Have you lost yourself and come to us...to try and find it?"

"And yet I know who you are." Misaki spoke clearly, "You cannot refuse me."

The world stood still and the pulse stumbled unmistakably in the air.

"Why have you come here...Arenai Ansatsusha?" he moaned.

Misaki nodded, hearing his recognition of her, "I seek myself. I seek salvation for your world."

"You seek...what all others may never find and what is impossible to grant for there is only doom."

"Can you give me what I need?"

The essence did not answer at first. And its head turned as if to consider a voice only it could hear.

"The rhythm is disrupted...the dancers cannot dance without the rhythm...which has left us. And yet you ask for that restoration. Impossibilities."

Misaki's brain tried to translate his cryptic words. Rhythm could mean a lot of things. It could have to do with the pulse. It could also be referring to Misaki herself. She knew her molecules could not 'dance' because she had lost part of herself. Yes. That made sense.

"You have lost the rhythm." He spoke once more, "Its ways are ancient and lost... and yet you ask for it to return."

"The pulse...why is the pulse faltering?" Misaki demanded.

The essence's bloody rings considered her again, "One has come...who should not be. The balance...will demand sacrifice." He listened to the voice no one could hear once more, "And to answer that, a second who should not exist now resides in the heart of man…But…"

He began to move forward, slowly as if in great pain. Misaki knew that he should not be able to do so and yet he drew closer, step by step. It was then that they saw one leg was broken. The darkly stained shin bone was sticking up in plain sight and he walked on that foot's ankle.

"And light shall not die, for the world in its desperation clings to the light and feeds its existence, interceding and satiating Death each time it comes. But still it will return, its appetite is growing and soon it will have what it needs, balance for the realm in which it has power…" The voices were driven into a frenzy and they could not make out any comprehensible words until, "IT WILL CONSUME."

His head fell to the side, lolling with its ear on his shoulder. It was broken, hanging on only by a sliver of skin. His fractured vertebrae stuck out from his neck where the head had been. His bloodied hand lifted from his side, fingers in constant involuntary movement as he reached for Misaki, grasping onto her bare, newer arm.

His breath smelled of decay and decomposition and he now stared with sightless, soulless eyes directly into Misaki's soul and she could not look away, frozen in place. Had she been in control of her body, she would have screamed until her voice gave out and covered her ears with her hands to shut out the agonizing voices.

"You are missing pieces," he whispered, the voices all echoing even when he was quieter. Misaki shivered desperately under his touch, his blood dripping down her arm and off her fingers.

"The balance...will demand sacrifice." His voice sounded hesitant, as if he did not want to do what the unheard voice commanded. Finally, he covered her face with his other hand and this time Misaki screamed aloud, writhing under his palm and scratching at it and she struggled to gain freedom.

The others seemed to be frozen in time, looks of horror on their faces, their eyes would not blink, but their minds stopped comprehending what happened.

Misaki dropped to her knees, her head forced up by the hand that held it. Her screaming echoed through the cavern as blood gushed down her hair and neck, down her shoulders to her tank top which caught hold of the blood and soaked it in. And then when the shirt could hold no more, the blood continued down her waist, streaking the orange legs of the kimono with rivers of red.

The essence released her, the screaming turned to heaves of breath and laughter, evil laughter bounced off the walls tenfold in a legion's different voices. His mouth strained at the bonds which covered them with the laughter.

She sagged down, the back of her hands resting on the floor, her mind severed from her body, wandering somewhere among space and stars even though her eyes stared unblinking through his parted fingers.

The laughter stopped abruptly and the ragged pulse beat twice in the deafening silence.

With speed something in his condition should not have been able to manage, he grabbed her arm again, but this time he ripped it away, the muscles and bones visibly tearing apart. He tugged one last time and pulled the arm free.

Misaki's body shrieked, but she did not know what was going on; Misaki's other hand grasped desperately at the bone and flesh as if to stuff it back into place, her own blood mingling with His.

"The world demands it. The balance must be tipped in favor of that which it so desperately desires to have control. We must do as they have asked, but be warned…" The voices came together to speak again, barely holding another frenzy of emotions at bay.

He crushed the arm easily in his palm; the bone inside cracked sickeningly and the arm disappeared. The essence snatched up her grasping hand, slamming his other fingers into her bloody shoulder socket.

The essence lifted her arm into the air and spoke rapidly, all of the voices saying the same thing at different times. But the words were too jumbled to make out what he said.

There was a crackling of light that burst from his fingers into her body and Misaki threw her head back, her eyes and mouth open and white light streaming out of them.

The light in his hand streamed over the both of them, blocking the two from view. The first move that they made since the essence started, the gang seemed to return to the present to put an arm in front of their eyes to block the blinding light.

Misaki felt her feet leave the ground and the light flowed over her body, covering her, forming to her flawlessly.

"_May your Light never waver Arienai Ansatsusha."_

* * *

-lotsm


	28. Oracle Arc:: Time and Memories

A/N: Sooo...usually I'm really good with chapter titles...but a title for this one escaped me. If anyone has any suggestions, you are more than welcome to speak up.

O/C27: They have met Him, seen him face to face. The Essence rips Misaki's new arm from its socket and envelops the two of them in light.

* * *

"C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?"

Iridescent white hair and perfect teeth both gleamed in the sunlight. His smile was always infectious, but this time the one at whom the smile aimed for didn't want to catch it, as was obvious by the deep scowl she shot in his direction.

"Aw, trust me, Sis. When have I ever steered you wrong?"

"I don't wanna." The younger one's face was scrunched up in a frown, lips pursed with consternation.

"It'll be fun!" If possible, the grin got broader as he held his hand out to his younger sibling.

She didn't take it, nose crinkling in deep thought.

"We could get hurt."

"We're not gonna get hurt. Big Brother will see to that." He scooped her up in his arms and swung her around until her frown began to fade and squeals of glee poured from her lips as she threw her arms into the air. He stopped after a moment.

"More! More!" She bounced up and down and shifted her weight violently back and forth as if to start the movement once more, clapping with excitement.

"_You must heed my warning."_

"You act like such a toddler some times. You'll let me twirl you around…" He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.

She mirrored his expression quickly.

"That means you do trust me."

"Well, duh." It was her turn to roll her eyes.

A mischievous glint gleamed in his expression and he raised an eyebrow at her, "I would bet," he emphasized the word, "that you wouldn't even last three minutes."

"Oh yeah?" Her hands flew defiantly to her hips, her eyes narrowing as she jutted her chin out at him.

"Yeah!" He grinned again.

"Well, I bet that you are a stinky mean-face!" She blew raspberries.

He threw his head back in a bellyful of laughter, and then moved his face towards hers while still chuckling, rubbing noses with her affectionately.

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

...

"You used to be able to talk to my mind. Has something changed?"

"_Well, yeah, something's changed. I don't remember how."_ She sighed and tried again.

Her face was creased up in concentration, but she didn't actually even know what to do. Was there some muscle she had to flex? She tried to flex her brain...

When it didn't work, she contented herself with looking over at the man sitting across from her. His skin was etched, clear-cut.

His bronze eyes were gazing off into the distance and despite the trouble she had getting him up into the tree in the first place—he couldn't understand how she derived so much joy in climbing them—he seemed content enough now.

"_Just don't look down." _He squeezed his eyes shut as the urge shot up through his stomach. They were only on the first branches of the tree that could hold them, but being away from the ground made his head reel. He felt someone's eyes on him.

His hair was catching the light through the roof of leaves and reflecting it in its iridescent manner, fascinating her as it usually did.

"_The more I try to do this, the more I'm not going to be able to do it." _She thought with resignation as another bout of 'flexing' did her no good.

He carefully began to shift his weight in preparation for the climbing down, feeling as if he'd been height-adventurous enough for one day. Hands…here…and feet…there. How did one climb out of a tree once getting up into one?

She became distracted by what she had been told was a 'dragonfly.' It flitted about her head and she gathered her body underneath herself, ready to swat at it and its pretty colors.

"_You who should not exist weigh heavily on the shoulders of balance."_

He was in trouble.

It wasn't so much that she read his thoughts at this moment, but more that she very distinctively felt the emotions his mind released. He planted his weight wrong on the branch and before his body knew it, his brain registered the miscalculation. The fluid in his ears sent a signal faster than light to the cells in his brain and told him he was off-balance.

First one foot slipped, then a hand missed grasping at the bark correctly, sending shavings of the outer covering of the tree trunk trickling to the ground. Not half a second had passed and his other foot failed to respond as he wanted. Everything seemed to move in slow-motion as his arms desperately tried to grab for a hold.

She heard his mind cry out before his mouth had a chance to execute it. It rang clearly in her head and she whipped about to face him.

In one fluid motion, she landed on the branch he had occupied moments before, bracing one hand on that branch and grasping frantically for his reaching hand. They met in the middle, each other's fingers clamped firmly about the opposite's forearm.

Now that the action had stopped and he swung a bit in the air, both parties realized how heavily they were breathing.

After the blood stopped rushing in her ears, she started to chuckle, slowly lowering him towards the ground. His face wore an expression of confusion until he felt his feet hit solid ground after a second or two of being lowered. She still easily had a hold of him. Her chuckle became amused giggles. His chin dropped to his chest and his shoulders began to shake until he almost couldn't stand it any longer. Then he threw his head back in a great big guffaw as she let go of his arm to clutch at her abdomen which started to ache from the laughter.

…

"He…he's dead."

The reality of the situation smacked her in the face and all of her denial, all of her hope, collapsed in one fatal blow.

"N-no."

She did not want to look at the sympathetic eyes, did not want those eyes to share her pain. Her pain was hers alone and no other had the right to bear it.

"_There is chaos and there is order and too much of one or the other disrupts all of existence and causes it to falter like an unsure heartbeat." _

"No.

She took a step back, her mind caving in on itself as a part of her sucked away abruptly. Instantly that hollow space filled with thoughts of revenge, thoughts of anger, and then no thoughts. She did not take notice of the arms that reached out for her.

"No!"

The killer would die. And by her hand. Something must suffer the agony that tore at her heart, the beginning of a deep ache that she knew would never leave her.

"NO!"

She ran, already able to taste the blood of her rage. Her mind broke down, all sense of self escaping out of a gaping chasm in her soul. There was no longer her, there was only hate.

…

Never before had she possessed any sort of power. But now, driven by her hatred, her anger, all of her strength boiled at the surface, easily at her beck and call.

"WHERE IS SHE?" The energy that burst from her body in her outcry permanently blinded the closest of the surrounding defenders.

Grabbing the nearest of those that couldn't see by the scruff of the neck, she lifted him in the air where he struggled blindly, and threw him down with such force that her feet lifted off the ground, a small crater forming underneath him, his backbone breaking in half. He instantly died. And she wasn't finished with him. Straddling his chest, she pummeled his face beyond recognition, her punches flying so fast that her fists were merely a blur.

Three of the other ones who had been close by lunged for her. They didn't need their eyes to fight for their training had transcended sight. One tackled her to the ground and the other two gave chase as the pair bounced and scraped across the dirt, struggling to come out on top. In the brief moment where their comrade had the upper hand, the other two grabbed for her arms.

Screaming in rage, she yanked her arms towards herself to loosen their grip just enough for her to retaliate with her fists in their faces as they fell towards her. She tossed the third off of her body and as he shot for her again she timed a ribcage shattering kick that sent him flying away from her.

"FACE ME YOU COWARD!"

Fire wreathed around her in a tight circle, five of her enemies channeling their power into the wall that threatened to engulf her completely.

Raising an arm and spreading her fingers apart, she pointed her palms towards one of the channelers and blasted him into oblivion. The other four's expressions faltered but the wall didn't waver.

One hand dropped as the other rose and moved to the next in line. She clenched her fingers into a fist and her energy clenched his body until he was crushed, the gore oozing out of his body in every direction. She rushed straight through the flames at the last three.

_"Though the world keeps favoring that which it feels will serve it best."_

Bringing her fist back to her ear, every ounce of her strength went behind the punch, breaking the nearest one's face. She swiftly shifted her weight, her leg coming up and across her body, ankle crushing the next one's shoulder into the side of his body before he crumpled to the ground.

She head-locked the last one in the crook of her arm, putting her free hand on the opposite side of his face and snapping his neck.

Dashing forward, she slammed her fists, first one then the other, in a prologue to a flurry of punches, into the nearest enemy, the momentum carrying both of them meters backwards into a tree. He crashed into the trunk, an indentation of his body forming into it. Her punches practically melded him with the bark, her eyes burning holes into his soul and he couldn't look away.

…

"For your assassination of the Shinobi of Fire, and your murdering and subsequent spilling of innocent blood, we judges find you guilty on all counts."

The Lady of Fire glowered in a menacingly happy kind of way with a hate-induced satisfaction at the ruling of the hastily assembled court. She had not been allowed to join in the decision process as the subject matter, the court felt, was too close to her heart and would cloud her judgment. However, she knew they would not, could not, ignore the plain and simple facts of what thousands had witnessed and fewer than a hundred had survived to testify. The sneer on her face briefly flowed to a frown. The guilty one would have a reputation that spread throughout the Makai like wildfire. Such power did not go unnoticed, and especially not by the youkai whose entire existences center around who was the strongest. Disgusting.

The female against whom the court ruled stood with her head down, her hands clasped together behind her back. Sans the Lady of Fire, the other Elements looked upon her with a great sorrow. The death that had triggered the bloodlust of the woman before them resonated deeply within their beings as a terrible loss and while some of them pitied her, others sympathized and did not know if they could have held back from such an outburst had a similar event happened to them.

"_Death lingers, fed, satiated with lives that were not the one it was sent to rectify. It looms over you like a murderous shadow, and so the world continues to intercede for you. As is the very nature of the Elements, you cannot die as long as your element continues to thrive, but you most of all should not live."_

The Lady of Water gazed upon her with the most troubled face of the gathered, her lips trembling with held-back tears, her cheeks and eyes red with tears that had already fallen. Through her inexpressible grief, she considered the dark-haired slayer and was only just able to keep the water in the corners of her eyes from spilling over onto her face.

What had once been short hair in a crystalline, silver color was now a deep black that flowed over the woman's shoulders, only remnants of silver streaking her head here and there as if in her mourning of that which she had lost, only his memory, his handiwork, remained. Out of all those who had died, only one life would be mourned by she whose hair now veiled her face in shadows, for only one of the deaths had mattered.

"You, Arienai, you will be branded for your transgressions. May all who speak your name call you Ansatsusha and remind you for eternity of those lives that you willingly took this day. You are hereby banished to The Island. Do not show your face again among us until the day of your atonement."

...

Free. Done. She did not wish to return to them that banished her. Besides, she had received visions, clues, indications via the Oracle that her brother had not died. These things would not allow her the courtesy of sitting back and doing nothing. But she didn't have enough of anything to know where to start. She needed more information.

She sought out any and all who could provide such, traveling the expanse of the three worlds, selling herself out as a mercenary, buying information in any way that she could. She had no more strength than the average youkai, and could not figure out how to tap into the rage she once felt, but her reputation in the Makai had grown because of her murderous spree. In her name alone, there was power. And, eventually, through time there came the strength. There weren't many who lived multiple millennia that did not become strong. But, it was a rather long process for she had not been trained for battle of any kind.

"_Soon, they will all go into slumber, awaiting the end of their era where they will be awakened each one last time to return to what they were: the Heart of the Elements."_

The ones seeking to rule over the Makai tried many times to recruit her into their ranks, but she did not chose sides and refused them, making more enemies in this way than she could count. She did not care for what she considered their petty and unimportant disputes; she only wanted that which had been lost. She was both revered and feared and in grave danger at all times: a threat to be removed from the playing board. She always escaped with her life, sometimes only just, sometimes through the intervention of others, her only thought to survive to find her brother. It drove her, fed her, and became the only thought on her mind at all times.

…

Misaki relived her life from as far back as she could remember it to mere moments before the Essence had grabbed her. The words whispered into her mind by an outside voice stirred her soul, but each one faded as quickly as it had come. Misaki tried to hold onto what the voice said but the harder she tried, the faster their meaning escaped her. Each time the words left her, as the memories poured passed her inner eye, her power returned, slowly, as it did through time, filling her, flowing within her, and cleansing her of her mortality. Everything that Koenma had stripped away from her those many years ago, everything he had taken in hand and shattered, returned to her through her mind as the Essence walked her down the paths she chose to tread.

_"Only then will balance be restored."_

_ "Balance?" _She asked, _"Restored?"_

Suddenly, another surge of energy lashed into her.

Too much. It was too much.

Misaki had never felt such power before. It utterly consumed her.

Her entire being began to buzz, every single one of her molecules starting to dance in the over-energizing wave. As they danced, they pulled apart from one another and Misaki began to feel herself becoming like a mist in the air.

_"No…no! This is wrong!"_

Greedily, her body continued to absorb energy, as if it hungered the freedom of such a mortal restraint.

The every fiber of her being started to sing as farther and farther apart her molecules vibrated.

This was how it should be. Complete. Full of awesome power.

It took more will than Misaki thought she could ever be capable of to prevent herself from ripping apart into the space of the air around her.

For reasons she did not fully understand, she wanted to be free. Wanted release from the confines that her earthly body imposed upon her.

_"Yes! Be gone from this world!"_

_ "Your work is not done."_

_ "You are hereby banished to the Island…"_

_ "Trust me."_

_ "Sleep. You must sleep."_

The voices the reverberated inside her head might have been her own, but she could no longer tell the difference.

Suddenly, an image or a memory flashed before her eyes. Misaki's brother appeared before her, smiling face and kind eyes. Perhaps it happened at that very moment in time. Did he stand tall before her? Reaching out to her through the light and beckoning her onwards? Misaki felt him grasp her hand and jerk her forward. Everything snapped back into place.

Misaki felt the light receding from the space around her, being drawn into her body, and her feet touched solid ground again.

The energy that nearly overtook her dissipated with her brother's appearance.

As the light began to fade, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei carefully lowered their arms, which had been raised to shield their eyes, to see Misaki standing before them, arms held outwards from her sides, palms facing forwards.

Pure energy crackled in dangerous arcs over her still light-wrapped body. When she opened her eyes, the light shone from them and though she looked at them, she did not see them.

Instead, she saw the trees of the Makai as she ran past them while being chased by another group of youkai assassins sent to remove her from the their political game, the people of the Ningenkai as she walked among them in search of answers, the offices of the Reikai as she snuck in for information only the depths of their holdings contained, and the countless places she traveled to in her search for her brother, if he still lived, and his assassin, if he was dead.

"Mi...Misaki?" Yusuke took a hesitant step forward.

His voice came from very far away to her in her wanderings, from a different time completely.

Her gaze moved to him and she blinked. The light steadily lost its glow around her body, starting to disappear from the feet up. She raced through her mind to the present, memories pouring in at her from all sides but she ignored them all, plowing through to the cave she had left all those years ago.

Misaki blinked again, the light having completely receded except for her eyes. For just a moment it gave her an other-worldly appearance, and then she smiled, the green of her eyes returning as the light faded in entirety.

Kurama's eyes widened briefly at her smile, for it seemed so free that he hardly recognized it. Something obviously occurred between her and the essence, but the latter was no longer in sight and Kurama remembered nothing, and he suspected none of the others did either, from shortly after she began talking to Him until just a bit ago where he shielded his eyes from the bright light. How much time had passed?

"None, from your perspective, vessel." Misaki's eyes gleamed impetuously.

Kurama opened his mouth, and then grinned back at her infectious smile in spite of himself. He was truly pleased that she seemed so content.

"However, I have just lived over a millennia in my mind." She continued, resting her hands on her hips.

"Wow, grandma. You don't look a day over five hundred." Yusuke teased.

Misaki stuck her tongue out at him, "Smarty-pants."

"At your service." He bowed.

"So, uh, where did that one guy go?" Kuwabara scratched his head. "I felt this overwhelming sixth sense about him. Dangerous stuff. Did we scare him away?"

"Yes, Kuwabara. He was so frightened when he saw you that he turned tail and ran." Misaki pointed vaguely off into the distance.

Kuwabara straightened himself up, "Well, I am rather imposing, aren't I?"

"Yeah, if ugly and imposing mean the same thing."

"Shut up, Urameshi! I look better than you on my worst day than you do on your best day!"

"Well, I look better than you on my best day than me on my worse day!"

Misaki rubbed her temples and didn't even try to follow the pair as they went further and further into the rut they dug for themselves.

"Kazuma, is something the matter?"

Everyone's head turned towards the Koorime they had almost forgotten about as she yawned and stood up.

"No, nothing at all, dearest! I am merely defending my honor!"

"What's left of it, anyway." Yusuke pointed out.

Misaki was glad to see that, as she had intended, Yukina slept through the entire experience with the Essence. While the males may have been able to compartmentalize what they saw, though Misaki did not doubt they would likely wrestle with it later, at night, when they were alone and trying to sleep, she had wished to spare that which had managed to remain so pure in a world that was so…not. The Koorime had been sleepy anyway, so it was only a small matter to coax her mind into a rest as they had descended deeper into the dimension.

"Are you all ready to go back?"

Yusuke warily glanced in the direction he thought they had been. "Do what?"

"We'll head back to the house in the Ningenkai if no one has any objections."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" Hiei spoke up for the first time, his words sounding harsh and venomous.

Sensing something desperately wrong in him, Misaki mentally reached towards his mind.

Instantly, he recoiled from her touch and fought back, refusing her entry. The Jagan was a staunch opponent that glared into her head and Misaki quickly backed off, not desiring a confrontation.

The emotions at the surface of his thoughts, which Misaki had been able to catch before he closed up, were confusing. Mostly anger, some satisfaction, and…something else she for which did not have a name.

"Please don't say we have to climb back up all of those stairs." Yusuke groaned, pulling Misaki back to the present.

"We don't have to climb back up all of those stairs." She said to reassure him.

"I hear a conjunction coming with that sentence…" Kurama noted wryly.

"No ands or buts." Misaki said primly, "I believe another teleport is in order."

Smiling again, happy to hear heart beats and smell the people around her, Misaki gestured off to the side to a teleport that appeared in the Essence's absence.

* * *

-lotsm


	29. Man'naka no Arc:: Rain and Heart Strings

A/N: ...yeah...the farther I go along, the harder it is to pick out chapter names xD

O/C28: Lost in time and memories, Misaki relives her life from as far back as she can remember to the present, regaining her former power slowly, as she had through the millennia. The Essence is gone, their task is down. The gang leaves.

* * *

Safe and sound back in Misaki's home in the Ningenkai, Misaki practically skipped to the kitchen. Now that she didn't have to eat, the prospect was much more pleasing. And she hoped that perhaps some food would improve Hiei's mood for he seemed to be the only one in the group that was, as she guessed, stewing upon the visit with the Essence.

"Yukina!" She practically sang, "Would you help me cook something?"

"Sure!"

Kurama followed the pair into the kitchen, if only to make sure the house did not get burnt down.

After a time, the others made their way to the table as the food began to leave a lovely scent in the air.

The conversation over the food was stereotypical for the well-knit group: Yusuke and Kuwabara would banter back and forth, while Kuwabara in between jabs would make an honorly pass at Yukina who was deep in conversation with Kurama about cooking techniques. However, the fire youkai sitting at one end of the table never rose to her defense once that evening. Misaki frowned at the one stick in the mud amongst the happy group.

It was night outside after everything was all said and done and the dishes were cleaned and put away. The group decided that another sleepover together wasn't a bad idea as the thoughts of whatever had attacked the agency (though it seemed like ages ago) hadn't fully left their memories. The deemed the next day one in which they would visit the park as they bedded down for the night.

…

The gang's plans were interrupted, of course, by a horrible rainstorm. Everyone bumbled about the house absently. For the most part, Kuwabara and Yusuke congregated in front of the television together, Kurama sitting in a nearby recliner.

"Where's Misaki?" Yusuke perked up and looked around the room.

Yukina sat in the middle of the floor laying out cards that had strange symbols on them. "Is it raining?"

There was a loud booming noise of thunder and with a sudden surge, more rain rattled onto the house in sheets.

"Yeah," Yusuke answered slowly as if it was a little more than slightly obvious, he and Kuwabara giving each other a look.

"Then she's on the roof," came the reply.

The rain drops came down over Misaki's head but she just turned her face up to the sky. Lying down on her back against the roof, she put her hands behind her head.

Misaki was soaked to the skin—she had changed into more normal clothes since the day before and hoped Coahtu wouldn't come looking for the ruined kimono—but she really didn't care. It was a wonderful feeling.

Her heart was still pounding from the run she had just taken. The rain tore from the sky and pelted the ground and Misaki.

Misaki had made it out to her perch before the greatest of the storm began to fall, but she still didn't feel as if she had found the best spot. Sitting up on her elbows, she surveyed the roof. Harumph. That spot over there looked decidedly better.

The sheets of rain made the roof much more slippery than when she first made the climb, and it wasn't the friendliest roof there could have been. Misaki was fairly sure footed, but as she scrambled her way across, a giant sheet of rain and wind buffeted her to the side and threw her off balance. There were no hand holds on the roof and the drop was going to be a long one.

Managing to scrape her hand against the roof's materials, a thin veneer of blood coated her descent, albeit washed away as quickly as it appeared, as her fingers continued grasping for a hold. She felt her legs reach the side first and her stomach lurched as she thought of the distance to the ground. She closed her eyes.

Her arm felt as if it would be pulled out of its socket as someone clasped her wrist firmly and she stopped falling.

Misaki looked up and wondered as she always did how Hiei's hair managed to stand straight up. It was practically raining buckets of water at that point.

His grasp felt familiar and reassuring and as he easily hoisted her up over the edge she just managed to fall over, Misaki thought briefly back to the moment when he had pulled her out of Amureo's deathly pool.

_"You shouldn't be up here if you can't handle yourself, stupid woman."_

There was no point in speaking out loud. They wouldn't have been able to hear one another.

Misaki frowned as she moved to the back of the roof. Even through his one sentence, Misaki could feel all of his conflicting emotions that he so deftly kept under wraps. To her unending astonishment, Hiei followed her and settled down next to her when she lay down again.

She closed her eyes and listened to the melodic sounds of the raindrops beating out a rhythm onto the rooftop. Life…was good.

Curiously, Misaki opened an eye and snuck a look at Hiei. He stared off into the distance into the rain above them. She marveled at how dry he looked until she remembered that he was a fire youkai and noticed the steady, though faint, steam that hovered around him.

The pair of them turned, when in a moment of respite from the howling wind they heard a thump, as the roof vibrated under another pair of feet behind them.

Yusuke stood at the other end of the roof and was precariously making his way towards them.

He seemed an almost comical picture to her, his hair flatter on his head than she'd ever seen it before. She giggled, thinking the sound was lost within the storm. Hiei gave her a strange look and she cleared her throat in embarrassment.

All of a sudden, Yusuke slipped and the world slowed. Misaki watched as his foot came out from under him and he began to slide towards the edge just as she had.

Just as Misaki before him, Yusuke saw the ground beneath him and stopped. Something had grabbed his hands just before he went over the edge.

When he looked up, his feet dangling in mid-air as was the rest of him, he blinked as water fell into his eyes. Misaki was leaning over him, face nearly hidden behind a curtain of hair, the silver streaks gleaming fiercely in the rain as she dripped water on his upturned countenance.

Misaki grinned over at Hiei who had Yusuke's other arm. Hiei glanced at her expression briefly and together they pulled Yusuke back onto the roof until he was able to easily stand on his own.

Hiei dropped his grip, but Misaki didn't let go of Yusuke's hand as she picked her way carefully along the slope of the roof to where she and Hiei had been moments ago.

When they sat down, they both were in high spirits and smiling from ear to ear. Misaki let go of his hand when she was sure that he wasn't going anywhere.

Yusuke held his face up to the sky and closed his eyes, letting the rain pour over him.

Misaki felt a tug and looked over at Yusuke. But he hadn't moved.

There was another tug, and it pulled at her whole body, jerking her a little. She took in her surroundings and saw no one. Hiei did not seem to be privy to any discomfort either.

The third time the tug came Misaki was jerked to the side and she witnessed the rainy scene around her blur into nothingness, the two boys and the roof disappearing from view.

Briefly she fell through the air, but had enough wits about her to conjecture that she had been pulled out of the Ningenkai and into some other dimension.

When she smacked to the floor, her head whacked the ground and she cringed, lying still for a moment to recover before deciding to stand and survey her surroundings.

There…didn't actually appear to be any ground to stand on, though she felt solidity underneath her feet. In fact, there didn't actually appear to be anything at all. The dimension was pitch black, rendering sight useless.

Misaki felt a presence behind her and she dodged to the left, planting her left foot down after moving to the side a few feet and swinging her right foot so that when she landed she faced the other direction, straining to peer forward. She thought she saw a tall, dark shape, darker than the space around it.

She felt the presence behind her again, but this time she didn't move.

Misaki realized that she was dry. Her clothes, her hair...dry. Not a drop of water on her.

Without really seeing it, Misaki knew that a hand had its fingers pulling through her hair smoothly.

"Mm. Such pretty hair."

Misaki knew that voice. She stayed still, feeling a second hand do the same thing.

"Beautiful hair. So smooth." The lithe fingers pulled the hair over her shoulder where an arm was then able to rest as the fingers continued tangling themselves in her hair.

Misaki heard an old crone's cackling and suddenly she was able to see. The dimension remained as dark as ever, but at the appearance of the gnarled woman people became visible. The woman chuckled again, rubbing hands aged and full of bent fingers with arthritis together. The huge pack on her back tinkled at her every movement, a giant sewing needle stuck through the middle of it and many different colors of yarn and thread spilling over and around and out of the top.

Glancing over her shoulder, Misaki saw a wild-eyed Karasu standing behind her, bent over so that his elbows rested comfortably on her shoulders while his hands still moved in her hair.

The withered old woman Misaki had never seen before this moment rubbed her hands together in glee, her rotting teeth showing as she grinned at the both of them.

"Fufufufu!" the ancient crone cackled once more.

Misaki's finger tugged slightly just like her body had earlier. She held the hand up to her face.

"What the heck is this?" A red string was attached to the finger and she followed its path with her eyes to the identical finger of Karasu.

"A heart-sting." The woman danced, or rather cavorted, around the pair, "Yours and Karasu's are together! You belong together!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! What?" Misaki ducked away from Karasu and stood so that she could see both of them at the same time. "I…it…Where on earth did this come from?"

"Why do you shy away Misaki?" Karasu closed the distance between them fluidly, his movements smooth.

Misaki backed up, "Aren't you dead? What's going on?" She was confused beyond belief, taking a second to appraise the crone again.

With those needles and thread...she was some sort of youkai, Misaki thought, her heartbeat was strange like Hiei's. This had to be her dimension she ruled…or something… The heart-string was a problem. Unless Misaki could get free, she definitely would be stuck with Karasu…the dead youkai somehow moving for her again.

The old crone clapped her hands together, happy with what she saw. Another couple happily joined together! What fun, what fun.

Misaki made a face and held the finger up, examining the thread. Experimentally, she jerked the finger towards her. Karasu's hand came up and he was drawn closer to her. Misaki's eyes widened and she stepped back away from him.

"You know what love is, Misaki?" Karasu purred, quickly grabbing her wrist and jerking her towards him, curling his other arm behind her waist.

Misaki grimaced and leaned away as he put his lips next to her ear and continued to speak.

"It's wonderful. Two people who care about each other so much that they can hurt each other so well." His grip on her wrist tightened as he squeezed.

Misaki's heart pounded. None of this made any sense.

_"What on earth is going on?"_

The old biddy leaned her head to the side, turning an ear up as if listening to something neither of the other two could hear. She frowned and then appeared in front of Misaki.

She grabbed the hand with the thread on it, then grasped the air in front of the fingers and pulled. Hard.

"Ow!" Misaki said with more surprise at the tug than any actual pain. She jerked away.

This time Misaki heard the noise that had alerted the crone.

More people fell into the black dimension. Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara and a teenage Koenma. They all smacked into the nonexistent but substantial ground just as Misaki had.

"What? This is impossible! There is only one string that should be..." The crone lost her words and stood gaping at the other people that had shown up. She turned back to grasp at and then tap Misaki's hand twice sharply.

Eight strings appeared, four on her other hand, each on a separate finger.

The youkai made a noise of exclamation and jumped back, startled at the results. It was rare for a person to have two strings, though love triangles did that, but never before had she seen eight! Astonishing! However, she was not phased for long and she began to untangle the strings, one each for Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei and Koenma. They were now standing, all looking a little ruffled at their sudden trip, but still too confused to say anything.

In the back of her head, Misaki noticed with a bit of glee that Koenma still hadn't found the hiding place of his pacifier but he was too distracted at the moment to take any notice to scold her.

"Ha!" the crone exclaimed, "I knew it!"

Misaki looked down to see what she had discovered.

The youkai held one of the fingers up. The thread attached to that finger was much paler than the others and faded in and out of existence.

"And he's already got another string on him. So does this one. And I'm the one who put yours there." she muttered, tapping in succession each of the three strings she referred to sharply twice like she had to Misaki's hand a while ago.

All of Kuwabara, Yusuke and Karasu disappeared.

Misaki took a deep breath of air that she hadn't realized she held. Karasu was…sadomasochistic to say the least. Scary. Misaki tried to lift a hand to rub her temple but the crone smacked her fingers and like a disciplined school child, Misaki straightened up and sat still.

Karasu reappeared, seething, and Misaki's stomach dropped to the floor, her heart feeling like it had relocated into her throat.

"How dare you!" he yelled at ancient youkai.

That wasn't like Karasu at all. Then again, Misaki thought this whole situation was weird.

"Ah, but you are in my realm," she waggled a finger absently at him, most of her mind still on the interest at hand. "You cannot do anything without my permission. And I'm busy. Leave me alone."

"But...but you promised!" he pouted behind the mask which covered his face.

"Something has come up. She has no interest in you anyway, as if that wasn't plain to see."

"That wasn't the point! I want—"

"Now hush up. It's your fault at this point. Most interesting case I've…" her words faded off again into a mumble as she spoke to herself.

"Most people have one, maybe two strings," the crone said aloud to Misaki absently, "And yet you have eight? Or rather...four," she made a closer examination and Misaki felt her breathing over the hand she now held up to her face.

"Merely a deep friendship," she murmured half to herself, "I mistook it at first. Old though. Must be getting old. Only a friend. That leaves...those two, of which he...and..." She faded off and Misaki figured it was a habit of hers.

The last two strings led off into the darkness in opposite directions.

The youaki's face contorted with concentration and also consternation. The color of these strings was all wrong. Delicately, she took one thread in each hand and gave them a small tug.

Misaki felt the jerking feeling again.

Two figures, too far away to make out, appeared at either end of the realm. They were close enough, however, to tell that they both wore dark cloaks with their faces hidden underneath large hoods.

The realm began to rumble around them.

"Never before have I seen a case such as this," the crone's voice as she spoke was now shaky, not full of wonderment as it had been. There was fear behind her words.

The figures were steadily moving closer to Misaki and the realm convulsed around them.

"Away! Away!" the youkai shouted at Misaki, dropping her grip and waving her hands wildly into the air. "You bring ruin upon me!" the last part was aimed at Karasu, whom she pointed at and shrieked the words, "Ruin! Be gone! Never return here!" she screamed in terror, "I release you! Leave me! Take them away! I cannot sustain their kind!" she cringed from Misaki as the figures closed in, cowering behind hands that she held up in front of her face.

Misaki felt the tugging again, tugging that pulled at her whole body and suddenly she was falling.

Koenma's office formed around her and everyone that had appeared, save Karasu, Misaki noticed gratefully, hit the floor. They moaned as they stood. The strings and the figures and the old crone where gone with the dimension they had left.

The guys all blinked sleepily as they stood up, thinking about the strange dream they just had. After a moment, they all spotted one another and could instantly tell by each others faces that they had shared the same dream.

"Was it a dream?" Kurama asked quietly out loud.

Koenma, now a toddler once more, albeit a toddler without a pacifier, sat down at his desk and folded his arms, creating a picture of disgruntledness.

"Well?" Yusuke looked at Koenma as if he had the answers.

"Well, what?" he said sullenly, "Don't look at me. Misaki was there before we all were."

Everyone, now standing, turned to look at her. She held out her hands and shrugged.

"I have no idea what was going on." she admitted, shaking her head, "The last thing I knew, I was on the roof of the house in the Ningenkai in the rain and then I was there in who-knows-where land."

"Okay, see? There. We don't know what just happened so we're going to pretend that it didn't happen." Koenma was still obviously not happy about something.

That's when everyone else noticed the missing pacifier.

* * *

Okay I'll admit it, I totally jacked the idea of the heart string thingy from a blip of an episode of Tenchi Muyo that I saw...but I don't really remember the episode, I just remember this sort of thing happened. Japanese Heart-String thingy…tee hee.

Thanks for reading!

-lotsm


	30. Man'naka no Arc:: Sparring

A/N: Fight scene! ^_^

O/C29: It rained. Karasu appeared with a youkai who dabbled in Heart-Strings to try and 'claim' Misaki. No such luck. The gang is transported back to Koenma's office, where they suddenly notice the missing pacifier…

* * *

Yusuke was the first to break the ice.

"Hey toddie, what happened to that stupid little thing you always have in your mouth?"

Koenma's eyes narrowed, "What did I say about anyone calling me 'toddie'?"

Yusuke, grinning, shrugged a shoulder.

"And it's called a pacifier. Anyway," Koenma became aloof, "We were having trouble locating you there for a while. Like you had slipped off the face of the planet or something. Yusuke, you are going to be sent back Ningenkai immediately. Keiko has been asking for you."

Yusuke slapped his forehead with a hand, "Not good. Can I leave now?"

"OH NO!"

Everyone turned to stare at Kuwabara.

"I have a test tomorrow! I gotta study!" He ran out the door.

"Go ahead," Koenma nodded to Yusuke, who turned and followed after his friend.

"As for you all..." Koenma's gaze rested on Misaki and his eyes burned angrily.

Misaki sighed and walked over to the desk. Leaning over it, she reached out to his hat and into the brim, pulling out the pacifier.

"My..!...My pacifier!" Koenma was a happy camper as he put it back into his mouth. He still glared at Misaki as she sat down on the edge of the desk.

"We had a problem up until now."

"And what was the problem, toddie?"

Koenma ground his teeth together and Misaki grinned back at him.

"You don't remember the attack that sent you all away in the first place?" He shot back at her.

Kurama and Hiei exchanged glances.

Suddenly, Hiei got a strange expression on his face and bolted out the door.

_"Yukina." _

Kurama looked up at Misaki and their eyes met. He nodded once to her, slightly.

"After it engulfed the agency, our friend the blob decided to stick around for a while. Just recently, it broke off after something else. I hope we don't see it again. We just got everything back online and running and were attempting to track the lot of you down when you disappeared." Here Koenma's expression grew wry, "As did I, I suppose.

"It isn't over, I'm afraid. We have reason to believe that it left to go after you."

" 'Reason to believe?' Sounds fishy." Misaki leaned back onto Koenma's desk.

He waved her off some papers that were caught underneath her and she obliged by lifting herself slightly for him to retrieve them.

"It told me so itself, if you have to know." He stuck his tongue out at her to the side of his pacifier.

"Oh dear. You know there's a problem when the Prince of the Reikai is taking advice from hostile creatures. Have you had your nap this week?"

Kurama's lips twitched into a small smile.

"It did! It told me so itself! I promise!"

"Do you have any recordings of the creature speaking? I think it would be an interesting idea to analyze them. Find out more." Kurama provided.

"…Well…no…No, we don't actually. Everything was offline, as I said."

"Convenient." Misaki added.

Koemna glared at her again and changed subjects.

"We would like you all," here he indicated Kurama, but paused in mid-thought, wondering where Hiei had gone off to. The fire youkai slipped into the door as Koenma's gestured encompassed the lot of them and the Prince continued, "To stay out of sight for a while. Your signatures will be easy to pick up and surrounded by humans as they are, Yusuke and Kuwabara are relatively safely hidden. We can transport you to Misaki's house. We'd like you to stay again there for the time being."

Misaki looked over at the other two youkai.

"I don't have a problem with that." Kurama spoke up, "I would like some time to talk with my teachers about it, if only to assure them that I'm not completely out-of-commission. And I won't want my mother to worry either."

Koenma nodded. "You would be more of a danger to her if you were around her, with Yoko inside of you."

_"Safe and sound, I presume?" _Misaki felt timid as she daintily extended the inquiry to Hiei.

He had been looking off in the distance, deep in thought, but when she called his name his eyes focused on her for a moment.

Hiei didn't answer her with formed thought as words, but an affirmative washed into Misaki's mind. Yukina was fine.

_"Up for laying low for a while?"_

The answer was delayed this time and Misaki almost asked again, but he responded in the same manner with a rather indifferent emotion. Don't care.

"I'd like the opportunity to check in the Zumi." Misaki admitted, "Once we were in the Ningenkai, there hasn't been a way to contact him.

Koenma nodded, "Your emblem." He fished in a drawer behind his desk that they couldn't see and pulled out a loop of hardy string with the teleportation brooch on it, handing off to Misaki's out-stretched hand.

Misaki got off the desk and stood closer to the others, "If you hear anything, let me know."

"I will."

There was a flash of blue light and the trio disappeared.

…

"Mistress, you're back!"

The blank, dark receiving room materialized around the three of them.

"Yes, Zumi."

"I take it that everything turned out alright in the end."

"Yes, Zumi. It usually does."

Kurama noticed that Misaki's voice sounded tired for a moment.

"Can I get you anything?" Zumi wanted to know.

The room shifted and the three of them stood in the same room that they were in last time. Misaki turned to Kurama.

"Are you hungry?"

"I suppose..." he shrugged.

Misaki stared at him. "So, is that a yes or a no, vessel?"

"A 'yes' I suppose." He chuckled at Misaki's look of annoyance.

"Zumi, do you think that we can..."

Her voice wandered off as she took a step forward and disappeared. Kurama thought it was interesting that Misaki would do things like that as hostess. Then again, she wasn't human and likely didn't know or care to know what something like etiquette was.

Going to the open window, Kurama leaned out of it, taking a deep breath of the clear air and enjoying the small breeze that picked up and flowed around him. The tree-filled horizon seemed to almost glow in the sunlight. He had never stopped to take note before that there was a large radius around the house free of trees, a low grass shimmering the lawn with its earthy colors. The tree line started out slow, a few dotting the edge until, as the eye moved deeper in, they started to grow closer together, though remaining a healthy enough distance from one another.

"Here."

Kurama almost jumped. He didn't even hear Misaki come back. She stood at his shoulder, holding out a familiar piece of bread. He smiled and took it.

Misaki, seeing him take a bite, walked over to where Hiei stood, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed.

_"Hiei?"_ Misaki felt strangely uncomfortable with the idea of speaking out loud to him, as if doing so would be more intrusive on his privacy than reaching out via thought.

He opened his eyes partially, acknowledging her presence.

She held out bread for him too.

Not quite registering the situation, he took it and began nibbling on the edge, recrossing his arms.

Misaki frowned at him as she turned away with her own piece.

"Mistress, I've checked for you. The area is completely clear. I don't know why but the systems weren't working properly the last time you were here. I believe that is why you had so much trouble. I still cannot believe that a dragon of such enormous proportions got past our systems, it's just—"

"Zumi." Misaki sighed.

"Yes?"

"You're rambling on again. I already know all of this."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." he apologized.

"When you're done, do you want to spar a little bit?"

Kurama realized that she was talking to him.

"I would really like to see the white rose in action. I've never before considered the possibilities a weapon made from it could have."

"Of course."

"Where would you like to do this, Mistress?" In spite of himself, the excitement leaked into Zumi's voice, "I think that one of the arenas would do quite nicely. And I...um..." He faded off as Misaki was staring up at the ceiling with her arms crossed, taping a foot impatiently.

"Thank you, Zumi, but it is just perfect outside and I prefer the wind and air."

"Yes, Mistress." Zumi responded with a bit of a pout in his tone, sad that he would not be able to watch the going-ons.

"Ready?" she asked as Kurama finished off the last bite.

He nodded.

Misaki went to the window and began to climb out.

Kurama chuckled at her idiosyncrasies. "And there's such a nice entrance door to the mansion."

"Meh. Too far. I rarely use it." She jumped down.

Kurama put his hand on the sill and watched her deftly traverse the side of the wall, shaking his head as she did so. Definitely not human.

Misaki landed on the ground and shot forward, enjoying the feeling of running for no reason. She disappeared into the trees as Kurama touched the ground.

"Misaki?" He took a step forward, catching a glimpse of her vanishing into the branches. Kurama walked out of the clearing into the widely spaced trees and glanced above him.

"Alright. Let's get started."

Once again, Kurama almost jumped. Misaki had dropped from a tree somewhere and managed to land silently behind him.

He turned and she stepped back a ways, noticing that Hiei had followed them outside and was up in one of the trees where he would have a clear view of the ground.

"You seem rather excited." He could practically feel the air around her vibrating as if her energy pulled at the reins.

"Really?" Misaki didn't feel any different than usual. Maybe a bit indulgent, but nothing more than that. "Now, I want you to fight me as if your life depended on it. Because it might." she added.

Before Kurama was able to respond, Misaki flew at him and delivered a bone-crushing punch to his jaw. He was flung back into a tree where he slammed into the trunk and then slumped to the ground.

Hiei sort of watched from where he sat. He'd followed them because they moved out here. And the air was nice, he guessed. Hiei tried thinking about other things, but his thoughts always came back to the same ones. The Essence.

Kurama shook his head once, prepared for the punch, but not the force she put behind it. When he stood up, she was no where to be found. He glanced around at the trees and space around him, but actually listened for any out of place sounds more than anything.

There.

As Misaki few out of a tree above Kurama, he deftly turned to face her and brought his arms up in a block, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the melee range she forced him to counter. However, he wanted to scope her out before bringing forth his rose whip, hoping to glean more knowledge of how she fought before striking back.

Misaki's fist planted predictably in the middle of his block and Kurama shifted his arm fluidly around hers so as to counter-balance her punch, circling her fist and neutralizing it, leaving that side open and without defense.

Instead of attacking that side, Kurama jumped back, clear of a counter-attack. He noted that her stance had changed, the leg of her seemingly defenseless side slightly raised in preparation for an attack that hadn't come. It lowered until the tip of her toe rested lightly on the ground.

Kurama noticed the gleam in her eyes, unsure of what emotion to place with it. Just as her first smile after the encounter with the Essence had seemed to him so foreign, yet so much more true to her nature, this expression gave off the same aura. While it was in fact something he had no name for, Kurama felt that this sense of her was more like the real Misaki than any of them had ever known.

She shot forward again and he brought up an arm to block the incoming punch he anticipated. But she disappeared.

Misaki took two steps to Kurama's right, positioning herself behind him so fast that he was unable to see it. She shifted her weight and brought up a leg to deliver a kick that would be devastating. He caught hold of her leg and Misaki realized that he had turned around at some point. Misaki was surprised and pleased at the challenge he might present. It had been too long since the last time she had gotten a chance to stretch her muscles of her own will.

"I didn't expect you to see that coming. Impressive, vessel."

Kurama just smiled and Misaki noticed a sort of battle-readiness to his face that she hadn't seen before. She surmised that the longer the battle went on, the more dangerous this particular opponent would be, as long as she was the one who continued attacking.

His smile also aggravated her for some reason. She had moved fast enough that he wasn't able to see her, she was sure of that. Misaki dwelled upon the fact that he was at one time the infamous Spirit Fox. Briefly, she wondered what the relationship was between them. Could they talk to each other? Was it simply two people in one body, just the body was inhabited by another being? Or was Yoko locked away, deep within Kurama, slumbering? Or was he just at the surface? Waiting for a chance to break free? Could he ever break free?

Misaki supposed that the answer to the last question was no. There was only one body and two beings within. That meant they had to share, she guessed. While Misaki had met Yoko many years ago, that sort of thing hadn't come up. Of course, when she met him, he was still just Yoko Kurama. Not Suiichi Minamino. And did that mean that Suiichi would not have existed if Yoko hadn't gone into that human woman's womb? It was all very complicated and it fascinated her.

All of these thoughts ran through Misaki's mind in an instant, of course, but Kurama knew an opportunity when he saw one. Misaki felt Kurama begin to shift his arm that held her leg.

Despite having one leg caught, Misaki did have another one.

Hiei watched impassively as Misaki swung with her other leg into Kurama's head. That move seemed familiar. Oh yes. The long-legged walking insane asylum. Shinobu Sensui. He pulled that move on Yusuke when he was in the same position. Hiei frowned. What had made him think of that incident?

Kurama's neck cracked.

"Mm, thank you. I've been trying to get that kink out of my neck for months."

Misaki couldn't help the deep-chested growl. He was really starting to get on her nerves. Misaki released those feelings and smiled in spite of herself. There was no need to let him get under her skin. Clever kitsune.

Following up on her second kick, Misaki retracted the leg from Kurama's neck and pulled the other leg out of his hold, bouncing once on the ground with both feet before rotating her body in a circle to generate speed, aiming a kick at his shoulder this time.

Kurama let her foot make contact with his body, but reached up and curled his arm around her ankle, this time clamping tighter so that she could not get free.

For an instant, Misaki seemed to be suspended in mid-air. Then, she arched backwards and put her hands onto the ground in a hand stand, pulling Kurama off the grass and over her body.

Hiei raised his eyebrows in interest.

In his astonishment at her strength, Kurama didn't think to let go until after he started to soar above her. Coming to himself, he released her and as he flew through the air, he twisted his body around to land unharmed with his feet steady on the ground.

Reminding himself that he had not really seen her in battle before, Kurama allowed himself a moment to appreciate the aesthetics of her body in a new light. His eyes caught the slightly toned muscles in her arms and he wondered if she could simply pick up and throw him if she wanted.

Misaki deftly bent her elbows and pushed down on the ground from her handstand, creating enough force to allow herself to flip backwards and land up straight on her feet.

Kurama took in her body and stance, her every momvement well-calculated and not taking any more energy than necessary as she turned to face him and settled into a relaxed standing position.

Just as the moment passed where he started to think it had come to his turn to reciprocate, Misaki rushed at him again.

* * *

-lotsm


	31. Man'naka no :: A Rose By Any Other Name

A/N: Wheeee fight scenes :D Also, title is a bit different because the full 'Arc' description wouldn't fit with my complete title. And I didn't want to have to sacrifice my title. ^^

O/C30: Koenma gets his pacifier back! Koenma is concerned for Hiei and Kurama's safety in the Ningenkai as whatever had engulfed the agency backed off to try and find them, so he sends the pair and Misaki back to Zumi and the mansion. Kurama and Misaki spar outdoors at Misaki's request…

* * *

The prospect of an opponent that got better as a fight went on intrigued Misaki. She knew the vessel would analyze her every move, and looked forward to it. She couldn't recall the last time she fought with anyone, much less a kindly spar. Her methods were more…discreet most of the time. One who wants information does not go about destroying everything in her path, lest something killed hold the information needed. It was a lesson Misaki learned too late, but had not forgotten.

Practically flying across the short grass that spanned the distance between her and Kurama, Misaki cleared her thoughts, pushing the young man to fight head-to-head for once and let his fists do the talking.

Kurama shifted his left foot back and dropped his center of gravity by contracting his core, preparing for Misaki's onslaught. He wrinkled his nose at the prospect of more melee combat weaponless, but felt that for the moment he might as well abide by Misaki's preference. It would give him a chance to work on something he didn't particularly feel was his strong point.

Misaki stopped short of him just as Kurama readied himself for her assault.

Surprised by this move, or rather lack of movement, his expression became quizzical.

Misaki began laughing at him, snickering first, then unable to contain it, doubling over herself and clutching at her stomach.

Hiei glanced around his branch to see what was going on, slightly perturbed at the sudden outburst of noise.

If Kurama had the poignant ears of his Yoko counterpart, they would have been flattened backwards in annoyance. As it was, his lips pursed lightly and his brow frowned in an aggravated manner.

"What?" His voice rang out with an obviously peeved lilt, feeling sure that she had this eruption at his expense.

In the midst of her laughing, Misaki managed to hold back for a moment, "Just… get out your rose whip if it bothers you so much." She giggled again, snorting after a moment of deterring her laughter.

"I thought perhaps we would start out with some simple hand to hand combat."

"But you absolutely hate," She emphasized the word, managing to hold back another bout of laughter, "hand to hand combat."

Kurama preened himself for a moment, his face taking on a haughtier look as he tossed a section of his hair behind a shoulder.

"And what relevance, pray tell, does that have to your laughter?"

Misaki threw her hand up to cover her mouth and subsequent grin, but the laughter in her eyes voiced her mirth and Kurama didn't miss it. Yoko's ears would have twitched.

Taking a deep breath, Misaki composed herself, closing her eyes so that she wouldn't look at Kurama and crack up again.

"You've always hated melee fighting." She opened her eyes and met his gaze, a smile creeping back onto her face.

Caught off-guard, Kurama looked puzzled.

"Or rather, I suppose I should say: Yoko Kurama was not found of melee combat, vessel. I found it rather amusing that your expression mirrored his exactly. In a very similar situation, nonetheless." The last part was a bit quieter, but her smile had not diminished.

"If it is something I don't particularly enjoy, it is quite possible that the emotion comes from a lack of skill in it. Should I not attempt to better myself, improve that which I have found myself lacking?" His continuing emotional perturbedness added to his already articulate nature.

Misaki's smile became a larger grin as she teased him farther, "Not when you're looking like that, I should say."

"Like what, exactly?"

Misaki's face dropped all hints of amusement and her eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam that Kurama had never before seen.

Feigning to the side, Misaki appeared behind Kurama with a quickness he did not expect, one arm locking around his neck and the other hand planting against the back of his head.

"Scared out of your mind," She practically purred into his ear, making a jerking motion with both of her limbs that he knew by the cracking of his spine would have broken his neck if she had wanted.

"Ow!" Misaki exclaimed as she released him, quickly putting a finger in her mouth where something had bitten and draw blood.

"My apologies." Came Kurama's knee-jerk response as he stepped away and turned to face her. His hand went up into his hair and he pulled out the white rose she had given him. "I don't usually store a fully grown rose, it's kind of awkward." He fluffed his hair back into place with his other hand.

"What do you store in there? Encyclopedia?" Misaki mumbled through her finger.

One of Kurama's eyebrows rose at the prospect.

"Nothing quite so heavy, I assure you. Usually, just a simple seed."

"Of course."

Kurama took a deep breath as the fragrance of the white rose wafted up to his nose. He held it closer and inhaled again, briefly closing his eyes.

Hiei's mind cleared and his troubled thoughts, though they did not vanish completely, diminished notably as the smell made its way up to where he sat in the tree. He blinked a couple of times and took an experimental sniff. It smelled better than the blood of a thousand decaying corpses. And that was saying a lot. For Hiei at least.

As Kurama looked up from the rose, he saw Misaki considering the flower with a small smile. Infusing the rose with his spirit energy, he manipulated it, morphing such a simple flora into his trademark, deadly whip.

"Fascinating." Misaki breathed, watching Kurama work. "Does the whip come out the same way every time?"

"In what way?" Kurama's head tilted a bit to the side with his inquiry, his composure restored from earlier.

"I…I mean," Misaki's eyes darted left as she searched for the wording, "Does…is every thorn in the exact same place, the whip the exact same length, tip the same breadth?"

"It is relatively the same length and breadth, or I would not be able to wield it as I do each time. However…" Kurama released his hold on the rose and it shrunk back to its normal, albeit stunning, petal form. Surprisingly enough, master of details though he was, the question of the thorns had never arisen in his mind. He wanted thorns on the whip, so there were thorns on the whip.

Misaki made a motion for him to change it back, stepping closer so that her eyes could better scrutinize the process.

"I believe the answer is yes." Misaki marveled. "A creature of habit you are, vessel."

"And I didn't know the inquisition would be present to quiz me." His lips turned up into a light smile.

Misaki shrugged, "I suppose I've had my fun. Ready?" She leapt back well out of reach.

Kurama made an experimental snap with the whip in the air.

"I'll take that as a yes. At your pleasure, vessel." Misaki put her hands in the pockets of her pants and rested her weight on one leg and caught his gaze, holding it.

Kurama didn't move, taking in every shift of her muscles and then staring into her eyes. There was a challenge in them. The time had come for him to make the first move.

Misaki waited as he started first left, then right, making his way closer with every zebra-like turn and breaking into a run. Having seen him snap the whip once already, Misaki surmised that Kurama would be able to hit several marks at once in rapid succession, almost at once.

When close enough, Kurama brought his hand holding the whip up to his ear and lashed downwards sharply.

Misaki briefly saw his wrist pull the whip up for a strike and while her eyes told her she still had time, she forced her body to back-pedal and the tip cracked the air in front of her several times.

His advance on her continued and her retreat happened in response.

Feeling her foot catch on the root of a tree she neared behind her, Misaki lowered herself so as not to fall. Kurama had just flicked his wrist again and the whip snaked forwards.

This time, Misaki did not fall back, but instead pushed forwards and met the whip in the middle, the tip making contact with her upper arm once and drawing blood. After that, Misaki maneuvered her hand about the oncoming whip, wrapping it about her arm and then taking hold and jerking Kurama, who still maintained a grip on the other end, towards her.

With quick hands, Misaki deftly wrapped Kurama's wrists in his own whip, undoing her binding in the process.

"The same thorn positioning every time, hm?" Kurama sounded mildly amused.

Misaki looked up into his face with a smirk as she finished her knot-tying upon him, their noses almost touching. She snorted and turned to examine her arm.

"Not quite, no." Swiping her other hand over her arm, she came away with blood on her fingers and grimaced. There were several deep points of puncture wounds the thorns had made, but not as many as one would expect. "Very close, but different enough."

Does it always do that?" She stared down at the whip after a moment, catching a pulsation of a glow.

Interested, Kurama released his energy once more and caught the flower in the air, subsequently releasing himself from Misaki's work.

"I don't believe so. It's nothing of my doing."

Misaki frowned, "Glowing, I understand. Pulsating…?" Another second passed and Misaki's eyes widened.

The flower shattered like glass and Misaki had just enough time to throw her arm in front of her eyes. Kurama did the same, turning his face and dropping the rose.

The pieces hit their forearms, but did no damage, vanishing in the air noiselessly.

Kurama lowered his arm, then his body, not seeing Misaki where she had been standing moments ago. He smelled the air, hoping to catch her scent and possibly the direction in which she had drawn back for an attack. The smell of the dispersed white rose still remained, however, and since it and Misaki shared the same aroma, Kurama could not tell where she had gone. His eyes expertly scanned the trees above him, but he caught no sight of her and heard no uncommon rustling of leaves.

"Here. Catch."

Kurama whipped around to see Misaki standing a few feet behind him and he reflexively grabbed for the item she threw in his direction: another rose. A plain, red one was her gift this time, though Kurama did not see any rose as simply 'plain.' The flowering petals were opening beautifully as all roses do.

"That should do, no?"

Kurama nodded graciously, though he never went unprepared and had a back up or two tucked away. The gesture and Misaki's generosity was not lost on him.

"It's basically normal."

Suddenly, Kurama felt wary and held the rose away from his face, "Basically?"

"This rose won't break on you."

"Basically?" He repeated again, glancing at her.

"It won't break on you, but a rose grown within Zumi's walls could hardly be considered completely normal, wouldn't you say?"

Kurama opened his mouth to say something, but Misaki hadn't noticed and continued.

"You remember what I told you when you saw the rose garden? That was an old rose, about to die. It only glows when its life can be counted in mere days. Had I known it was that close to death, I might not have given it to you. Or at least perhaps provided a backup."

"Perhaps." Kurama noted dryly.

"I'm sure you carry a few spares around." Misaki pointed out, "Though, this could be considered an optimal time for it to break. I can think of several more… inconvenient moments than this one."

Misaki looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to the tree where Hiei still watched them through half-lidded eyes.

"Hiei…would you like to join us?"

He jumped to the ground, as if just waiting for an invitation.

"Three on three would be interesting." Misaki turned to Kurama for his opinion.

"A free-for-all?"

"If Hiei would be so kind as to oblige…" Misaki bowed at Hiei as the fire youkai approached.

"Hn. Whatever."

* * *

One of the shorter chapters that I've written, but a good place for a break. Thanks for reading!

-lotsm


	32. Man'naka no Arc:: The Trio at the Lake

A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates. Got really busy with school and I have a senior recital to practice for and all that. College tends to find ways to keep one rather busy. ^.^;

O/C31: Misaki and Kurama spar; Kurama's white rose gift from Misaki breaks; Misaki provides him with a new rose and asks Hiei to join them in a three on three free for all. Meanwhile in Koenma's office…

* * *

"What news do you have for me Botan?" Koenma leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing you're going to like, sir." Botan stood in front of his desk, holding her oar in one hand.

"The source of the threat?"

Botan shook her head, "Nothing quite so promising. Not yet. However…" She hesitated, "There is reason to believe that whatever was behind the phenomenon of the blob-thing and Amureo's near-success at re-entering the Makai are linked. By what factor, we have not deduced yet."

Koenma frowned, "Do you think it could have been...?"

"Amureo himself?" Botan finished, "It is always a possibility sir, but we really aren't sure. Evidence would suggest against it, and that there is an outside, third party involved who instigated both events. Our records for the agency wouldn't note who was here that wasn't supposed to be on the day of the attack, but we've been reading the records for the Pool in the hopes that someone present is our guilty party. We've had a few likely candidates, but no definite suspects."

"Have you talked to Yusuke and Kuwabara yet? Perhaps they might have spotted something out of the ordinary while they were they. You might question Yukina as well."

"Frankly Koenma, they wouldn't really know anyone by name unless it was someone they met or faced before in combat or something."

"Talk to them anyway." Koenma ordered.

"Alright." She shrugged, "Anything else?"

Koenma pursed his lips for a moment before answering, "If you get a chance, go out and find Hiei and Kurama and Misaki. They should still be at the mansion. Bring them here."

"Yes, sir!" Botan promptly hopped on her oar and flew away out one of the windows.

…

Misaki parried Hiei's thrust, carefully moving her arm around the blade, starting at the flat of it, to alter his attack and put him off balance, and then she jumped back, ducking under Kurama's whip lash that came from behind. She swung a leg around while low to the ground, hoping to trip the fire youkai, but he moved up and to her right, bringing his katana up with him to slash her face.

Simultaneously, Kurama spun his whip for a thorn wheel which headed for the both of them.

Misaki pulled her head back so that Hiei's swipe missed and she reached around the blade and grabbed his wrist, pulling him directly in front of the thorns and using that momentum to swing herself out of danger.

Hiei leapt off into a tree just as the thorn wheel cut the air, missing his feet by inches.

Misaki's motion pushed her far enough away for her to recover her stance and survey the scene around her.

Kurama pulled the whip back towards his body and the length of it rested for an instant on the ground in front of him.

Hearing a rustle in the tree above her, Misaki dodged to the side, then, realizing that Hiei could have done that to make her move the direction he wanted, she dodged again, turning a back flip and landing on her hands, pushing off of the ground and into the trees to meet Hiei on his turf.

On the ground, Kurama's eyes shifted every direction, rose whip loosely held in his hand. Anticipating a move, Kurama snapped the whip out to his left, and then jumped away, turning in the air to spy a blur of color touch the ground and leap away again, another blur chasing after it. Feeling slightly irked at the battle that he knew was going on above him but that he wasn't participating in, Kurama lashed onto the branch above him and swung up into the tree, turning gracefully in the air, flicking his wrist to untie the loop and then flicking his wrist once more, striking out at a blur dashing among the leaves. He sped up, following the flashes of contact where the other two clashed and then forced apart.

When he finally caught up, Misaki stood with her back to a small lake, whose lining trees remained a respectful thirty meters away, and Hiei stood on his toes with his katana in front of him. Slowly, Kurama made his way to them until he was even with Hiei, though about five feet to the left of him.

Hiei shot towards her and the rose whip came over his shoulder with Kurama behind it. At the last possible second, Misaki faded off and Hiei came up sharply his feet in the edge of the water. He really didn't want to get wet.

He didn't even see the rose whip change directions as soon as Misaki began to disappear. The next thing he knew, he was thrown a few feet out into the water where he landed with a very surprised splash. When his head broke the surface, he saw Kurama grinning extremely Cheshire-like at the edge of the lake.

Of course, Kurama didn't see Misaki sneaking up behind him and Hiei smirked as Misaki easily threw the vessel into the air.

Kurama flew farther than Hiei and landed in the lake with a bigger splash.

When Kurama swam straight up to reach the surface, and after he took a deep breath, he realized that Misaki was doubled over at the edge of the lake, laughing her head off.

"You...you should have...seen your faces..." she managed to say between bouts of laughter. "Oh…so funny…" She fell to her knees.

Kurama smiled and looked over at Hiei. They both had the same thought at the same time and began swimming for shore.

It was Misaki's turn to not notice the pair from where she stood. She had tears in her eyes and her abs hurt, but the laughter was dying down. When she looked up from her kneeling position, catching her breath, neither youkai was in sight.

From behind, she felt herself being lifted off of the ground and tossed out into the water. Her uncharacteristic squeal of laughter pealed through the air briefly before being interrupted by the water that covered her head and the splash that followed as she fell into the deep.

Giggling once beneath the surface, she clamped her hands over her mouth as a bit of air escaped.

For the first time, a memory of her brother did not bring sorrow as Misaki recalled him pulling the same trick on her after she had unmercifully pushed him into a pond.

She closed her eyes to better see the memory and smiled, sinking towards the bottom of the lake.

Feeling a peace she had not experienced in a long time, Misaki amiably fought the slight weight of her clothing and swan upwards.

Her head broke the surface and she pushed her hair out of her face.

Kurama and Hiei sat a few inches from the water, drying out. Kurama's whip was presumably in rose form and hidden away in his hair as it was no where in sight, and Hiei's katana had been sheathed.

Enjoying the water which she hadn't swam in for a long time, Misaki dove back under and swam to the bottom, sitting down cross-legged and looking around. The water was fairly clear, though fairly empty. One of the braver native fish swam right past her, one eye inspecting her as it moved by.

"She's been down there for a while." Kurama noted, leaning forward a little to look at the water.

There was no easy slope into the lake, just a deep shelf that dropped all the way to the bottom, as if the shore resisted any erosion the water might attempt to cause.

"Hn. She's a youkai; she doesn't have the normal human lung capacity of a measly three minutes at best." Hiei lay down and put his hands behind his head, listening to the water lapping at the shore.

"Well, I don't think she's…" Kurama shrugged. He had his own reservations as to whether or not Misaki was actually a youkai, his own suspicions putting her more in the Element category, but he supposed it didn't matter as she could probably still hold her

Hiei closed his eyes when Kurama didn't say anymore, feeling the sun through the clouds warm his clothes.

Kurama was mostly dry and lost in his thoughts when Misaki came up again, right in front of the pair.

Easily lifting herself out of the water, Misaki sat down on the other side of him, wringing her hair out onto the grass next to her, and flinging it over her shoulder to hang dry. She sighed, almost contentedly, and glanced around at the trees.

"Well, this is entirely too boring." she decided at last.

"I think it's rather nice." Kurama admitted, "Not having anything to do."

He thought of his mother and wondered how she was doing; glad that for the moment staying away was the safest thing he could provide for her. He thought of school as well, knowing he could catch up easily.

Misaki made a face, "Doing nothing is what I've been doing for the last few years of my life and I'm tired of it. At least, nothing is what it has felt like." she added, mumbling the last part almost to herself

Kurama sat quietly, wanting her to speak more, to talk of her past with Yoko, which intrigued him to no end.

Even Hiei, asleep but still aware of his surroundings, listened to see if she would go any further.

But Misaki's eyes were lost, she looked inward, and Kurama knew not to expect any more.

It was quiet a few moments more; a slight wind picked up and fluttered around and through them, moving past.

"Hiei, just how fast do you think you are?" she suddenly spoke up.

Hiei glared at her.

"It's just a question."

Kurama, between them, looked back and forth from one face to the other. He knew he wasn't in the greatest spot if they decided to duke it out.

"Fast enough." Hiei closed his eyes again.

Misaki cocked her head. "I'll race you to the other side of the lake."

Hiei's eyes narrowed, though he didn't move from his position.

Kurama watched both of them warily, seeing their muscles tensing.

As if to a marker only they could hear, the two disappeared.

Hiei ran to the left around the lake. In less than two seconds, he rounded the lake and stopped. There was Misaki, waiting for him.

He gaped in spite of himself.

"I never said you had to run around the lake." She smirked.

Hiei's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't thought of that one.

Misaki grinned and grabbed his wrist. She took off over the lake with Hiei in tow.

"Misaki?"

Misaki stopped and looked up, seeing Botan wheeling overhead. She waved happily at the oar-riding girl.

"Misaki..." Hiei's voice reminded her of their position, smack in the middle of the lake.

"Aw sh—" the water filled her mouth before she could say anymore.

Botan landed by Kurama and from just their few words, Kurama's face looked anxious as Misaki and Hiei climbed out of the lake.

Misaki stared at Hiei and he shifted under her gaze.

"What?" he finally asked, irritated at both her stare and her impudence.

"How does it do that?" she wanted to know, reaching out a hand to touch his hair, though pulling back as his glare became more intense.

It still stood straight up in spite of the water running down it.

"Lots of hair gel?" Botan provided helpfully, smiling.

Her smile faded under Hiei's murderous eyes. He wasn't happy about losing the race and being dragged across the lake, and then being forced to stop in the middle of the lake and fall into the water.

"Um...Koenma wanted me to bring you three back to the office."

"Did he give a reason?" Misaki turned to her.

"Well," she bit her lip, "We have a slight break through about who attacked the office and he wants help."

"A slight break through?" Kurama repeated.

Botan nodded.

"Which is..." Misaki waited for her to fill in the rest.

"The one who led the blob to the agency and the one who assisted Amureo in his release are one and the same. There's a good possibility that someone at the pool the day you were there is our culprit."

"And Koenma wants us to try and remember who was there." Misaki finished.

Botan nodded, "We had trouble gathering documentation about the pool's visitors, but we would like you to go over it and maybe let us know if there was anyone who stood out to you."

"A lot of people went in and out that day." Misaki noted, "And despite the fact that, in relative terms, it wasn't all that long ago, I can't remember much before the actual attack. What evidence are you going on here?"

Botan shrugged, "The energy signature remnants of person who did the summoning for the blob matches those we found at the pool where the barrier was tampered with. The signature at the pool was less than a day old, so whoever it was had to have been there approximately around the time we went."

"It's troubling that two seemingly unrelated events were instigated by the same individual." Kurama spoke up.

"Indeed, vessel. Though it means we have not two enemies, but one. Have you run a check through Koenma's system, Botan?"

"Yup. No luck. Whoever it is hasn't been incarcerated by the agency."

Misaki frowned, thinking. "Did you keep a sample of the energy signature? I might be able to figure out who it is just by how it feels."

Botan grimaced, "It was decaying rapidly and I'm sure there's nothing left at this point. Koenma thinks that mapping out the attendees of the day may assist. There might be someone who stands out in particular that the three of you may be able to piece together."

"Let's go then." Kurama decided for everyone.

Misaki said something under her breath that no one caught, pulling out of the air the now-familiar pendant. They all felt a tug and the forest around them shimmered...

...to be replaced by Koenma's office. Koenma was behind the desk as usual, though a yellow ogre was hovering over his shoulder while he inspected a sheet of paper just handed to him by the oni.

Koenma looked up, "Ah, good. You're here. I was hoping that we would be able to converge about the attack, but I've just been handed another assignment. Since you two are handy, I'll just send you out." He indicated Hiei and Kurama.

Before either could get a word in, Koenma nodded to the oni, who snatched the paper away and proceeded to shove the two youkai out the door into the hall.

"What are you making them do, toddie?"

Koenma looked up in annoyance at Misaki as she leaned up against his paper-filled desk.

"Just a small scuffle. I sent them to inspect an area and bring me back anything they find, basically." He dismissed it with a hand, "More importantly, you're here and I need to pick your brain for information about who was at Amureo's Pool."

"Do you mind if I keep it in my head? I'm quite fond of it."

Koenma gave her a disapproving look that she faltered by patting him endearingly on the head.

"Erg! Stop that!" He fended her off, hating to have his head patted almost as much as he hated having her call him toddie.

"Wonderful! Thank you, Ogre." Koenma said as the blue ogre George came staggering into the room with a gianormous stack of papers in his arms.

Misaki's eyes widened, "Those had better not be—"

"For you," George finished, putting them down to the left of Koenma's desk.

"Maybe it'll be helpful to you." Koenma was smiling a little too broadly, enjoying the stunned expression on her face. He had to deal with that amount of papers daily; she could deal with that many too.

"What in the eighth level is this?" she demanded.

"These are records of those who visited Amureo's Pool on your assignment. You can start with that pile." George said.

"S-start?" She stammered.

Koenma reveled in her despair. He was finally getting back at her. Oops. He shoved that thought away, not sure if she was tuned in, listening.

Thankfully, she wasn't. The wavering stack had taken her full attention for a time.

"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" She sat down cross-legged next to the pile with a huge sigh.

"Because you're being helpful."

"Right. How could I forget." Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Misaki sat down next to the stack and grabbed a piece of paper from about her shoulder's height.

"No!" George and Koenma shouted, covering their faces. They peeked nervously through their fingers, expecting to hear the thunder of papers heading for the floor.

Instead, Misaki sat frowning as she concentrated on the form she held, ignoring the other two masterfully.

They flinched as she did it again, but her pull was so deft that the stack didn't wave any more than it was while being left alone.

"Oh, I did forget Koenma-sir. There are a few for you. Let me get them." George ran out of the door.

Koenma groaned, hoping to be able to enjoy the lack of paper a bit longer. He supposed it couldn't be helped.

* * *

Gianormous (ji-NORMOUS), ji pronounced as in 'jive', adjective, a combination of giant and enormous. Indicates extreme largeness of subject being described. :D

This has been another unnecessary announcement by yours truly.

-lotsm


	33. Man'naka no Arc:: Quite the Calico

A/N: I don't know why I've started to do the overviews with semi-colons…probably for the simple reason that it has amused me thus far.

O/C32: Hiei, Kurama and Misaki fight it out in a three on three free-for-all; Botan calls them back to Koenma's office; Kurama and Hiei are sent off on an agency mission; Misaki is stuck with paperwork.

* * *

"So you apparently aren't afraid of another attack enough to keep me away." Misaki said, breaking the silence that had only been filled with the rustling of papers.

She heard Koenma sigh from the other side of her still looming stack.

"If our deductions are more correct now than they were to start with, the blob cannot be summoned again for a long time."

"And if you're completely wrong, you risk killing us all."

Koenma didn't answer.

"Found anything promising?" He changed the subject.

Misaki shook her head, but remembered that he couldn't see her, "No, not really. Mostly D and C class stuff."

"I've never understood why my father has let Amureo's Pool go on as long as it has. So many youkai in one place."

"Most of the S class think it's below them to even come close to the Waters. It's big enough to hold a couple of them though. If they didn't kill each other first."

"That's kind of what I mean. And then if they could break through from there into the human world..."

"They won't."

"You sound so sure."

"I am." She just knew he was rolling her eyes at her.

"How do you know they won't do anything illegal?"

"Because I've told them not too."

"That's so reassuring."

"You know how much weight my words carry." Misaki reminded him, "You made me etch a proclamation of what passed as acceptable into the walls of the place when you found out Amureo had made the pool. That's the only thing that keeps the S's from trying something. Though, like I said, their interest in such a place is limited."

Koenma had forgotten about that. It was true: nothing had ever happened. Well, until Amureo himself tried to break back into the Makai. Koenma's thoughts turned to more worried ideas. Had Amureo managed to escape that body into which they banished him? Who was helping him out? Why?

Hours passed with no more interruptions until Ogre cleared his throat, causing both Koenma and Misaki to look up from their paperwork.

"Find anything?" Misaki heard Koenma say. She couldn't see who he was talking to because of the papers piled in a circle around her. She stood up.

"This." Hiei held up a calico cat he was carrying by the scruff of the neck.

The cat's auburn eyes were bulging, half-lidded, and it was hyperventilating.

Misaki scrambled through her papers as Hiei threw the cat onto Koenma's desk.

It stopped itself by extending its claws and latching onto Koenma's documents. It hunched down, coughing and pulling its limbs under a furry body puffed with fright. Its ears were lying back flat against its skull.

"Hiei, you baka!" Misaki scooped up the cat, cooing comforts into its ear. "It's okay, beautiful. Hiei's just a mean poopy-head." She stuck her tongue out at Hiei.

Hiei would have shot her the dirtiest look her could have managed, but the cat also stuck its tongue out at him and he frowned, reaching into the creature's mind with the Jagan.

"KITTY!" Kuwabara yelled as he and Yusuke came in the room.

Hiei got shoved out of his prodding as the cat's emotions scrapped raw against his telepathic reach with Kuwabara's terrifying outburst. The cat launched out of Misaki's arms in fright, accidentally slashing her with its claws. It dove for the top of Koenma's desk, scattering paper everywhere and then skidding towards Misaki's pile. It dashed straight in the midst of them and hid itself cleverly beneath the numerous papers.

"I didn't..." Botan looked confused and turned to Koenma.

His face mirrored Hiei's frown as he glanced towards the pile, "I decided to send for them while you were gone."

"Oh."

"But...but...kitty?" Kuwabara shuffled through the sheets, making an even larger mess.

The cat screeched in terror and jumped ten feet straight up in the air, sending all of the papers flying in all directions before running under the nearest piece of furniture: the couch. The room became a mob of general confusion and noise as everyone started to speak at once, papers flying about as if in a small windstorm

"Everyone, just STOP!" Misaki shouted.

Everything in the room froze: the papers in mid-air, the people, who stared at her, and even the cat, who first peeked its nose out from under its hiding place.

None of them had ever seen Misaki lose her temper like that. She stood with her eyes closed, hands in fists at her sides, and counting silently to three.

_"Too much noise. Too many people. And a terrified cat on the loose."_

She reached for the suspended papers and began gathering them up. Everyone but Hiei helped and eventually the loose sheets were in neat, though disorderly stacks, back where they belonged whether on Koenma's desk or with Misaki's original piles.

With great reservation of emotion, Misaki pointed to the door, "Out. Everyone. Now." It wasn't a request.

They all looked at her like deer in headlights, unsure of what to actually do.

"Out, out, out!" she shoved them through the doorway and shut it behind them, sighing at the silence. She blamed the paperwork. No wonder Koenma always seemed to have his diaper in a bunch.

Gritting her teeth and trying to clear her thoughts, Misaki got down on her hands and knees to look under the couch where cat had taken refuge. A paw, nasty claws extended fully, swiped at her face and she jerked back.

"Hn." It was an amused 'hn'.

Misaki ground her teeth and sat down to cover up the hiding spot, crossing her arms and leaning back against the bottom of the couch where she had been looking.

"When I said 'out,' I didn't mean, 'everyone out except for snobby fire youkai'."

Hiei stood leaning against Koenma's desk with his own arms crossed, an amused, though slightly perturbed smirk on his lips. "I caught that thing and I am not letting it get away."

"I think that I am perfectly capable of—ow!"

The cat interrupted her with a good clawing across the bare spot on her lower back where her shirt came up when she sat down. Misaki stood up and faced the hidden monster. She just noticed that her arms had tiny stripes of claw marks that were bleeding and she felt the tickle of blood from the ones on her back. Misaki put a hand delicately over the spot.

"I don't think it likes you." Hiei commented.

"I don't think it exactly has the hots for you either." She retorted.

The cat hissed on cue.

Misaki cursed, "Cerberus' collar it stings."

The cat hissed again at the three-headed dog's name.

"Oh, get over yourself." Misaki snapped back.

"Those ought to make interesting battle wounds." Hiei jerked his head at her arms as he came nearer.

Misaki inspected them. Three long blood lines ran up her forearm where the cat had taken a hold when it flew out of her arms.

"They're fine, see?" She turned to him, a bit of sarcasm in her voice, and held them out.

Grabbing an arm and making her wince, Hiei turned her limb left and right, then let her go, "Those are deeper than you think."

"It can't be that bad."

The cat made a noise that distinctly sounded like a huffing laugh.

"They'll likely be infected or perhaps the cat has poison in its claws." Hiei glanced at the couch.

"Oh yes, let's hope so. Maybe it'll be a slow, horrible death that you'll get to watch and enjoy with your sick-minded glee." Misaki turned to consider the cat's hiding place.

Hiei opened his mouth to disagree with her perception of what he would consider 'enjoyment,' but the Jagan caught his attention.

Misaki and Hiei suddenly stared at each other, both realizing at the same time what they were dealing with in this cat.

Misaki's eyes narrowed, and she glared at the couch, "You little animal! You little cat youkai!"

From under the seat, the pair distinctly heard the sound of raspberries as if the cat dared them to come and get it.

_"That would explain why it was so hard to catch."_ Hiei crossed his arms. _"I knew that stupid beast was phase walking."_

Misaki ran a quick finger through her blood and flicked a spot onto the floor in front of the couch, far enough out that the cat would have to reveal itself if it wanted a taste. She and Hiei didn't move a muscle.

A pink nose appeared first, sniffing eagerly, then an eye, then ears, then the whole head and neck.

Misaki waited patiently until the front half of the cat had wormed its way out from under the couch before she made a grabbing motion with her hand. The cat recoiled, but was already caught, rising into the air. Four paws planted themselves in a stubborn position that would have halted its movement had it been on the ground. Its hackles rose and it hissed angrily when it was level with Misaki's face.

"That's why I didn't pick you up by hand. Just look at yourself. Not very cat-like. I'd prefer not to be scratched just because you're in a bad mood."

The cat checked itself and sat down regally as all cats have a habit of doing.

"I'll let you go if you agree to a few conditions first."

The cat licked its back nonchalantly, pretending not to listen.

"If you scratch me again, I swear I will skin you and make myself a nice pair of fur gloves. If you run away, I'll let Hiei catch you. And he won't be as nice about it as I'm being."

Hiei appropriately placed a hand on the hilt of his katana and let the Jagan glared menacingly into the cat's mind.

Shivering once, the cat glanced over at Hiei's smoldering red eyes and intelligently decided the fight wasn't worth it. It nodded assent at Misaki.

"Alright. I'm watching you." She slowly lowered it to the ground and let it go, making sure she was far enough back that she would have warning if it decided to strike again.

The cat shook its paw as if ridding a droplet of water from the fur, then it appeared on her shoulders, rubbing her neck with its head.

"Hn. Phase walker." Hiei shook his head.

Slinking masterfully behind Misaki's hair, it settled down and stretched between one of her shoulders to the other with its tail curled under her neck like a necklace, sticking its tongue out at Hiei.

Hiei watched the whole exchange carefully, deciding that the threats might be enough to take care of the problem.

The cat began purring loudly and rubbed the top of its head on Misaki's ear lobe before biting it.

"Ow!" Misaki held back a string of insults as she realized she never said anything about biting. She muttered something under her breath and the cat just purred louder, if possible.

Hiei's hand shot for the hilt of his sword, eyes widening. Misaki was going to ask what was wrong when she realized two lithe arms were wrapped about her neck embracing her. The scratches on her back rubbed against someone, making them sting even more. Sharp teeth bit her ear a second time and Misaki looked up a little since she couldn't really move her neck, seeing the tip of a pointed chin resting on the top of her head.

While Misaki couldn't see the features, Hiei saw the auburn eyes and dark slits of a cat's pupils and knew at once that this was the same creature that had been a cat moments before. Misaki did see calico colored and patterned hair cascading down on either side of her face to the arms holding her.

"Mm, I didn't know you were that short, but you certainly still look good, even through human eyes."

Misaki blinked a couple of times, realizing that the cat-turned-humanoid was talking to Hiei. Hiei's eye twitched a little and he still had his hand on the hilt of his katana. If Misaki hadn't been standing where she was, Hiei would have already sliced through the youkai.

As she opened her mouth to say something, cat interrupted her, "Don't be jealous, you look just as good." She felt his sharp nose nuzzling her and a rough tongue licked her ear.

"Will you get off of me!" Misaki stepped forward, but his grip was strong and he stayed tightly attached to her.

"We're coming back in! I need to organize those documents and..." Koenma trailed off as the door swung open and everyone stood staring in the door at Misaki and her apparently new friend.

She worked her tongue around in her mouth in frustration and reached up to try and pull out of his arms or slip out of them or something. Her attempt was useless though. He was much taller than her and unless she wanted to be strangled or someone chopped off his arms, no one was going anywhere.

Kuwabara was looking in over everybody's heads, "Hey, where's the cat?"

Hiei, possibly rooted to the spot, didn't respond.

Kurama spoke up, "That's quite the calico you have there, Misaki."

Misaki grew more disgusted at Kurama's amusement of the situation.

"Red hair...very pretty." Misaki knew by the purr she could feel vibrating his chest that it wasn't just a simple compliment. She groaned.

"Black is my favorite color though," he whispered to her, pulling the long clawed fingers of one hand through the part he could reach. Misaki sighed long-sufferingly.

"Okay, so wait…what now?" Yusuke was scratching his head.

Misaki knew that the cat youkai stared at Yusuke's slicked-back hair because his tail, wrapped around her waist, twitched pleasantly. Misaki closed her eyes, hoping for some sort of redemption from the situation. If she could just disappear...

"This is in fact the cat you saw earlier, Yusuke," Misaki said, indicating the happily smiling youkai latched onto her.

"The cat youkai." Koenma corrected as he toddled over to his desk. He shuffled through a stack of papers after sitting in his chair, found the one he wanted and started to read it aloud, "The cat youkai Hitune. Long calico fur/hair, auburn eyes and retains cat-like pupils as well as cat ears and tail. Six feet seven inches tall, wanted for assassinations, theft of two vault items and various shiny stuffs." Koenma stopped and reread those last words in his head.

"I added that myself," Hitune was still smiling.

"And...and he's fixed." Misaki added.

"What?" Koenma looked over the sheet again, puzzled.

Everyone else in the room looked at Misaki, except Hitune who just smiled happily at the world.

"He's fixed." Misaki said again, "He probably somehow got stuck in cat form, some baka human caught him and fixed him so that... He has no preferences." She was getting blank looks. "They neutered him." They still didn't understand. "I really don't want to go into detail about it. Ask Kuwabara. He knows."

"Aw dang...um..." Kuwabara laughed nervously, "Well...when you don't want a cat to...erm...make...little kitties...you, well they get spayed. Or neutered if it's a boy."

It was dead silent for a moment and Botan quickly threw her hand over her mouth. After half a second more, she couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed hysterically, doubling over and then falling into a sit on the ground.

"Make...little kitties!" she heaved, "I can't...believe...you just said that...like that..." She giggled uncontrollably, then just straight out laughed again, tears rolling down her face.

Kurama chuckled and Hiei, who moved next to the door and leaned against it, didn't seem to think the entire situation had anything of worth in it for him. Yusuke realized what Kuwabara tried to say and he rolled on the floor, laughing his head off.

"My abs..." he gasped, "It hurts..." but he continued laughing.

Misaki caught a fleeting thought in Koenma's head and even managed to crack a smile herself, "Koenma! I didn't know your father hadn't given you the talk yet!" With all of that paperwork still fresh in her mind, she wasn't going to let an opportunity like this one slide away. She knew that he wouldn't if their positions were opposite.

The room flattened out with silence again as everyone stared at the place where Koenma had been. He hid under his desk as soon as Misaki said it.

"Wait, the what?" Yusuke sat up, "The...ooooooh." That started him into a fresh bought of laughter, along with Kuwabara who was thankful the attention was no longer on him.

"How old are you now, Koenma?" Misaki was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Though, when she remembered the cat attached to her she frowned.

"Shut up, Misaki!" They heard Koenma's voice shout from under the desk, "He said he'd tell me when he thought I was old enough." He mumbled, legs pulled up to his chest with his face buried in his knees.

Eventually, the laughter died down, though in the time that it took for that to happen, Misaki hadn't thought of anything to help her situation, and Koenma crawled timidly out from under his desk.

"Okay, so." Koenma spoke more steadily when he realized that they were just going to grin knowingly at him and not say anything, "Kudos to Kurama and Hiei for finishing the job so fast. Now Yusuke, I need you too—"

"Doesn't anybody find it just a little strange that he won't let go of me?" Misaki said in a sudden outburst.

They all sort of shrugged noncommittally.

"I wish Keiko would let me do that." Yusuke admitted.

"Alright, whatever, just what are we going to do about him?" Hitune squeezed her and she coughed.

"Well, I was just going to put him under agency arrest, not allowing him to leave. You can show him around since he'll be staying with us for a while." Koenma told her calmly.

"Why are you so calm about this? I'm being slowly strangled to death! Why can't someone else show him around?"

"Well, that would be redundant now wouldn't it, seeing as how you two are attached at the hip anyway." He looked her right in the eye when he said it and kept a perfectly straight face.

Someone chuckled and the glare Misaki shot at each one of them would have made a tree wither and die. "If any of you say one word, I will kill you myself, Hitune regardless."

"You can't—." Koenma started.

"Oh, can't I? I wouldn't be going and challenging me about that. I might just decide to prove you wrong." Misaki stalked out of the room, Hitune comically shadowing her every move. Everyone fearfully held in their laughter until she was well out of earshot.

* * *

-lotsm


	34. Man'naka no Arc:: The End of Things

A/N: Yes, I do in fact know that calico cats are always female. But you haven't ever met a cat youkai, so you don't know if they exist as males, right? Of course, right. Also…our friend the cat isn't *technically* male anymore.

O/C33: While Koenma and Misaki shifted through documents in an attempt to narrow the possibilities of who could have attacked the agency, Kurama and Hiei returned from their mission with a calico-colored cat in tow. The cat is actually a youkai who proceeds to latch itself onto Misaki and this seems to bother no one but her.

* * *

Misaki headed to her room, not wanting to embarrass herself further or 'show Hitune around' until he wasn't attached to her.

During the entire walk back, Hitune kept purring her at random, inopportune moments and Misaki would never have admitted it out loud, but it distracted her greatly. It seemed as though he knew this and he often purred with more zeal after a moment.

She arrived in her room without incident, skirting around anyone she thought might meet up with her.

The room remained as messy, and comforting, as ever.

"Are you ever going to let go of me?" Misaki stopped just inside the door and Hitune helpfully closed it behind them with one foot.

Hitune thought about it. "Maybe." He bit her ear again.

"That's extremely encouraging." Misaki grimaced, trying to swat him away, but only being able to bring her arms up so far, since his embrace circled her arms at the elbow.

He preferred not to answer, squeezing her middle with his tail instead.

"Why are you holding onto me?"

"I want to go wherever you go."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere without you, especially since we're in my room. Will you please let go?"

Hitune frowned, "You aren't going to leave without me will you?"

"No," Misaki breathed, "I won't leave this room without you."

"Okay." He released her.

Misaki stumbled forward and Hitune steadied her until he was sure she could stand on her own. He sat down where he was in front of the door and stretched out on his side much like he would if he was still in cat form. His ears and tail twitched occasionally in interest as Misaki moved about the room, attempting to clean the mess that she still hadn't managed to get the way she wanted.

After working under the eyes of Hitune for a while, Misaki realized what was wrong. She was making no progress, nor had she really when she tried to clean it last time. She had nowhere to put things. All of the stuff on her floor was there because there was no better place for it. She had no shelves to place things on and the closet was full of things she would have to pull out, making a bigger mess, in order to try and organize the chaos. Misaki wished she was at home where she could just think things and they would happen. Here it was a little harder, seeing as how she didn't have an infinite amount of space to think in.

Hitune quickly got bored and decided to explore the agency.

"Don't leave me."

"Just don't do anything to get yourself in trouble. Remember what I said: I will capture you again and make it a more permanent situation." Misaki told him. He acted as if he didn't hear her when he changed into calico form and somehow slipped out of the room.

Misaki shook her head and sighed. When she 'rescued' the calico from Hiei's unmerciful grasp, she didn't even consider this type of outcome. She thought the kitty needed love and comfort when…well it probably still needed love and comfort. However, she found herself less willing to provide snuggling and smooches to a fully grown youkai than to a helpless cat.

Night came eventually as Misaki puttered around her room, unaccepting of the fact that something couldn't be done about the mess. The bed looked inviting so she turned off all of the lights and flopped down. She couldn't sleep, of course, but she could get off of her feet and enjoy laying there on her side, one arm underneath her head.

The darkness swarmed steadily around her. A darker shape among the rest of the black nimbly leapt onto the bed and decided that she was a good place to lounge. Settling down on her hip, Hitune quickly fell asleep. Misaki smiled, hearing his heartbeat slowly grow steadier as he fell asleep.

The arm she had behind her head also decided to fall asleep and Misaki turned over onto her back, the cat giving a disapproving 'mrow' at having to move. Hitune concluded her stomach would do as a much better place to curl up.

The days marched on.

Misaki would get up, Hitune around her shoulders—he didn't change into human form very often, and would only do so when Misaki and he were alone—and go into Koenma's office to try and shift through the papers and find a decent suspect. Hitune's contribution to the situation consisted of batting at papers as she tossed them aside and messing up her piles so that she would scold him and put him back around her neck. He would lay there for a while until he got bored and started playing with papers again.

Kuwabara, Kurama, Yusuke and Hiei would come in and out for various missions from Koenma and that always made great fun for Hitune, who would yow suggestively at them, winding between their ankles and hoping to get them to trip and fall. He ignored Kuwabara, however, much to Kuwabara's chagrin, as the young man attempted to capture the cat's attention in almost every way possible. Kuwabara would bring treats and toys for the cat to play with, but Hitune ignored both and continued with his pursuits on the others. No one explained to him the real reason why Hitune paid so much attention to the other three and he felt left out.

…

Hitune stretched his paws and long, lithe body all the way down to his tail. He got up, licking himself unashamedly and looked around the room. His territory. He crinkled his nose; messy territory. He jumped off the bed with ease, following his nose to a smelly corner of the room. A pile of yummy soft clothes of Misaki's laid in the corner, covered in her scent. He rolled around in the pile for a good long time, covering himself with her smell. Satisfied, he decided that it was time for Misaki to get up. He knew that she did not sleep and somewhere in the back of his mostly cat-like mind it bothered him. He knew that he slept more than a normal being would, he was a cat after all, but he also knew that everybody needed some sort of sleep.

He hopped back onto the bed and realized that it was empty. He scattered the covers urgently, as if she had become mouse-size and hidden away from him. He whipped around, every inch of his cat body in a sense of panic. She promised. She promised she wouldn't leave him. He liked her. She was pretty. His ears and whiskers went into overdrive along with his nose and eyes. He searched the room quickly, knowing before he started that she was no longer there—cat senses told him that. They also told him that there was one person who would know where she had gone and why. He launched himself out of the room and appeared in Koenma's office through the best of cat means mere moments later.

All Koenma saw was the calico scampering into the room through the closed door and leaping up towards him. While in the air, the cat changed forms as quick as a lightning strike and when Hitune landed on the desk he was crouched like a cat except as in human form.

"Where is she!" He thundered murderously, his tail snapping back and forth in a fury.

"Where is who?" Koenma asked in a rather calm voice, considering Hitune's mood and the fangs that breathed down Koenma's neck.

The rumble that came from Hitune swelled from deep in his chest and when it snarled out of his mouth, it sounded eerily similar to a lion's threatening roar, tail lashing angrily to accompany it.

Koenma's expression looked detached, as if he didn't really see the sharp white teeth formed into a growl inches from his face.

"So, it's this day is it?" He said, his voice sounding like it came from somewhere far away.

"What day?" Hitune demanded ferociously, but Koenma didn't, or wouldn't, or couldn't answer him. He just stared blankly at Hitune, but past him.

Hitune snapped his teeth in frustration before getting up from the desk to pace the room back and forth. His body phased in and out of cat form furiously. One turn he was pacing at a humanoid, the next turn he was the calico cat, though tiger-sized, then he was humanoid again, then the regular-sized cat.

While he paced tiger-sized, Coahtu materialized into the room in a storm of blue fire, singing Hitune's whiskers. He growled viciously at her, but she ignored him.

"Where is she?" Coahtu demanded, her iron voice gripping like a vice over Koenma's throat.

He just shook his head.

Hitune stopped his pacing in the hopes that he would finally get the answer he wanted, but he started again and faster this time.

Coahtu's hands came smashing down on Koenma's desk and made imprints after from the heat she emanated.

"You will tell me where she is. I have looked everywhere and...it..." She trailed off as she studied Koenma's face closer. "No...no, it can't...what...It is, isn't it. I had forgotten." All of the rage within Coahtu had sudden snuffed out and her hair, previously a lashing tirade of her emotion, waved minimally down her back as normal, perhaps a bit less.

Hitune purred comfortingly, coming to Coahtu's side and rubbing his head on her thigh. She absently placed a hand between his ears and petted him. Hitune calmed down when he felt the dramatic change of moods in Coahtu. Something remained awry, and he vowed to get to the bottom of it, but this fiery woman next to him needed more comfort now than he.

...

Misaki stroked the gravestone fondly, tears streaming uncalled down her face. The ground beneath her began to rumble, then there was a faint sigh from deep within the earth as drops of rain slowly fell. Lightning struck not far from where she sat, lighting up the sky for an instant.

"I usually prepare myself for this. It's usually not this hard."

The rain around her seemed to laugh for a moment.

"Okay, so it is always this hard." Misaki admitted, "But I usually remember a few days in advance. I guess I've been concentrated on trying to figure out who attacked the agency. You remember the agency don't you? Or was that after your time?"

The droplets of rain mixed with the droplets of tears so that one was not distinguishable from the other.

The rage that always followed the tears came as expected.

"What point is there in a grave? A headstone? There is nothing here, just a useless piece of rock! Burned! Incinerated! Ashes in the wind! No body!" Misaki pulled back an arm and punched the solid, quiet tombstone, breaking it clean in two.

"_There wasn't even a body." _

Misaki sat looking at the two pieces, not a coherent thought running through her mind. The tears blurred her eyes, as always, and as always she picked up the dislodged piece and mended the two back together by running a hand over each side. She picked up the candelabra that had fallen off with the shuttering hit and placed it back on the top. In the storm, the candles would not light and they just barely stayed on the headstone.

In anger and sadness and rage and sorrow, Misaki cried out, her voice drowned by the wind picking up to swirl around her. Another wave of thunder boomed in the sky, as if in response. Drained, she sat against the stone wearily, head coming to rest on her chin.

A trail that went cold. Desperate information. Time. Brother. Mourning.

After the years went by, the sting of loss would lessen for most. But there were so few Elements, and Misaki and her brother were closer than lovers without making love, twins who were not related in blood.

Eventually she knew the tears would stop, but in that moment, Misaki cried herself out until there were no more tears left, just heaving and sobs and anger boiling up inside of her again.

Misaki's eyes shot open, blood-red with her crying. Something was coming. Something dared to approach the sacred shrine of her kindred. Something triggered her pent up rage and she stood to her feet, blind in the storm and her hair and her wrath. As the being came closer, Misaki sneered into the air at its repulsive heartbeat that pounded with its exertions; a heartbeat that should be her brothers. Her hand lifted almost of its own accord and she tapped relentlessly into a power shelled within her.

A single shot of energy was all it took to fell the being.

Misaki strode forward with grim satisfaction, prepared to taunt the thing before it died completely.

Hitune.

It was Hitune.

Beautiful Hitune in his calico form, bigger than Misaki had ever seen him before, paws almost the size of her head and sleek coat practically shimmering in the rain.

Inadvertently, a distressed cry tore from Misaki's lips as she sank to her knees and put a hand on his gorgeous neck.

Hitune's cat body phased out into his humanoid appearance and his auburn eyes opened to look at her. He raised a hand and interlaced his fingers with hers where they lay across his neck.

Her shoulders shook with weeping, but tears could no longer come from her.

Hitune opened his mouth to say something as Misaki gently pulled his head into her lap, calico hair streaming every direction, plastered to his face from the rain. Misaki moved that hair away, clearing his face so that they could look at each other.

"You're…a good shot." He smiled up at her, his voice low and reserved.

"You're a beautiful creature." Her lips simply refused to turn up into a smile, "Quite the calico." An image of Kurama floated through her head, followed quickly by one of Hiei, "Stupid beast." She fondly traced the outline of his jaw.

So many questions echoed into Misaki's thoughts, all concerning Hitune. Where did he come from? What had he done? Who had he met and seen? The ache in her heart longed to know his life but…there was not time to learn his history, she would have to settle for keeping the Hitune she knew as he was in within her memory.

Out of all of her questions, one kept returning to the front of her mind, "Why did you leave the agency?"

"I could feel your sadness and…and wanted to be with you."

Her voice choked up, "And I killed you for it."

He shook his head sadly, "The agency would have killed me for leaving. I…like it better this way…" He struggled to raise an arm, finding her hair and running his fingers through it.

A simple, satisfied smile on his face, his eyes closed and his hand dropped. He died.

The storm grew steadily fiercer around Misaki and her emotions echoed its frenzy, and purposefully so: she could sink into and forget the losses of the world in which she did not belong.

Behind her, a dark figure stepped up to the gravestone, waving a hand over the candles. They spurted to life despite the storm and they flickered and danced, knowing the true way of fire.

"Come, Ansatsusha. This is no place for you now." The fire-haired woman came up to her. Not even the storm could quench her hair.

Misaki sat still in the storm, a statue in the midst of the raging elements. Finally Coahtu saw her sides heave as she took a deep breath. The Ansatsusha stood, placing what had one been Hitune's head gently onto the ground.

"And where would you have me go, Lady of Fire?" She asked formally.

"Back with me. There are those who need you where I have been, Arenai Ansatsusha."

"No, I do not go back there. Not yet." She turned to the gravestone and walked up to it, placing a hand on the smooth surface. "I will find your assassin." She vowed to the stone and who it represented. She looked back at Coahtu who stood with her arms in the sleeves of her kimono, "I continue my search for the killer. I have wasted too much time already."

Coahtu bowed to the Ansatsusha, knowing that nothing she could say would change the mind of one so determined.

And so Misaki Ansatsusha left.

* * *

_Here ends Part One of The Ansatsusha Saga._

-lotsm

I am going to be taking a break for the month of November since it's NaNoWriMo. However, part two is the subject for my project so when I get back I plan on there being updates galore. Also, reviews make me happy 3


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